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National | Sports

96 Secondary schools to vie for Waka Ama national title

More than 1530 paddlers from 96 schools are set to battle it out at the 2016 Te Wānanga o Aotearoa National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships this week.

Now in its 15th year, the championships are being held from April 5 to April 8 at Rotorua's Tikitapu - Blue Lake.

The Te Wānanga o Aotearoa National Secondary School Waka Ama Championships are one of the largest Secondary School sports events in New Zealand.

Chief Executive of Waka Ama New Zealand, Lara Collins says, “Each year, the Waka Ama participation base keeps growing. Having been at all 15 events since the first one in 2002, I’ve watched the event grow and we now have teachers who were once students paddling, getting their schools involved. It’s awesome to witness such growth!”

Schools will compete for national honours in one, six and twelve paddler teams over distances of 250 and 500 metres.

Teams competing in the six person 500m classes will also have to navigate their way through a hairpin turn at the halfway mark.