Waka ama numbers paddle higher

DONNA WALSH/Waikato Times

WAKA FINISH: Team Pineula of Portage Crossing at Mangere Bridge celebrate their triumph in the Open Men 500 final at Saturday's Waka Ama champs.

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Record numbers at this year's National Waka Ama Sprint Championships could lead to a cap on the number of entrants, or reduced races at future meets.

Organisers will meet next month to discuss how to best manage future fixtures after this year's event at Lake Karapiro attracted a record number of crews. In all 371 races were held during the five-day event, which ended on Saturday, as nearly 2600 paddlers from 51 clubs took to the water.

Lara Collins, president of the waka ama national body Nga Kaihoe o Aotearoa, said planning for next year's championships was under way, with a start date set for January 18, 2011.

She said organisers faced the "good problem" of managing the event's growing popularity. "The championships' amazing success means our biggest problem is a good problem and that's how do we fit the growing number of races into the same five-day calendar?" Ms Collins said.

"This year we squeezed 35 more races into the event than what we managed last year. At the same time we had to deal with a huge downpour plus cope with all the other elements."

She said the easy option would be to just add another day to the championships but five days was already a long time for volunteers.

About 75 volunteers were on site each day to help run the event.

Ms Collins said a standout feature of this year's championships was the "massive number" of child crews, with many entering for the first time.

"As a community we all benefit from children getting involved in sport. The challenge is to keep them in the sport but at the same time ensure the overall number of participants is workable for the event."

The top six male and female paddlers from each of the six championship categories will compete at the world championships in New Caledonia later this year.

- © Fairfax NZ News