DAAAAMMMM!!! - DAAAAMMMMM!!!

12-Jul-2009

jordan - 582 waka i dont think theres that many W1 in the whole of Aotearoa......2 much guys

12-Jul-2009

:) - Kai pai! Everyone were all so proud of you guys!!!

12-Jul-2009

Turanganui a Kiwa Kaihoe whanau - Awesome guys

12-Jul-2009

Opa Roozy - Wow that many Wakas. Would like to see some photos.

12-Jul-2009

Kiwi - WELL DONE TO YOU ALL YOU TOKE ON THE BEST IN THE WORLD AND DONE US PROUD.

12-Jul-2009

Bar 4 Us - As David Tua would say 'O for Awesume'. Well done. You have made us all proud to be Kiwis

12-Jul-2009

King Whanau - Absolutely fabulous effort everyone.Too much Leanne! Awesome Rose - our darling daughter - we are so proud of you!!! Proud of daddy David too - for just going in it!! Mean Maori Mean.

12-Jul-2009

Kingitanga (Kingston) - Ka pai te whanau o Aotearoa,

Congradulations to everyone racing amongst the worlds best and hundreds at a time would have been an experience in itself well done. Lara and Co, thank you so much for giving our paddlers this opportunity and I hope this is the first of many more to come....
Papa Tyrin only one more sleep now, I know you fellas are soaking up the sun today enjoy because I'll have your gumboots and swaney waiting for you at the airport tomorrow...

lol xxx

13-Jul-2009

DAAAAMMMM!!! - o for awsome or F for effort.

13-Jul-2009

Turanganui A Kiwa - Wicked, what about that 582 waka lined up at the start, must of been an awesome sight and experience well done to Tyrin, Hemi, Leanne and Rose aka Team AOTEAROA

13-Jul-2009

envious - Awesome guys
Done us proud here in Aotearoa
What an awesome standing with so many waka in da start.
You go Lara you are bringing waka ama to the hilt

13-Jul-2009

get on your W1 - Once we can get 500 on a 1man startline i think we might be able to keep up with Tahiti.

13-Jul-2009

old kiwi paddler - We now have something to measure against.
Onwards and upwards.

13-Jul-2009

alex - Measure against??? How about aim for... Think Big, what if the long distance nationals had 500 canoes on the start line, imagine how wicked that would be... (and what a nightmare for timekeeping, lol)

13-Jul-2009

Marathon man - Imagine if we even had a marathon nationals. It was cancelled due prep for Sprints worlds. how perthetic is that.

13-Jul-2009

Freezing at home - Yeah i think we put to much enforces on sprints. we should be following the Tahitian model where they don't drop down to the sprints till just before the worlds not 12 months out which means there base fitness is right up there it doesn't take long to get your starts and turns down but if your paddle fitness isn't there to start with it makes it hard. i reckon we should have heaps of 10 to 20k races like the Tahitians.

13-Jul-2009

AJ - Yeah thats why i think Lara's on the rite track exposing our top paddlers to hard competition.

13-Jul-2009

wakadude - how bout 3.5km sprints like they do, no rudders!
wish i was in tahiti:(

13-Jul-2009

Hoogenback - Its hard work paddling in the heat over there,key thing is preperation,Bring back Tadpole,Dolminate and Milk bottle,they will sort those Tahitians out...

13-Jul-2009

CM of TP - Awesome Everyone. Good on you Leanne, I am sure you had them all working their butts off to keep ahead of you.

13-Jul-2009

Marathon man - when do they do 3-5km races. they do hawaiiki nui. 200km

13-Jul-2009

DAAAAMMMM!!! - just reading all the comments, too much talking and not enough walking. at the moment, our selectors want teams of champions, tahiti have champion teams! they have v1 specialists and v6 etc.. shell, edt, opt etc.. have champion team, they dont fill up their v6 with champions. "WE" do the opposite. good on everyone that went over to represent, but next year etc, the same comments are going to pop up, (good experince, wow, alot of vaa's and so on) just go out and do the work and stop making excuses about why tahitians or hawaii are better than us. hard work comes with good rewards. we used to have teams that go over there and push them, even beating them on their waters.

13-Jul-2009

tarn - CONGRATS YOU GUYS FOR REPPING AOTEAROA! im so proud of you hem and rose cant wait to see you when you get back! soak up that sun coz man nz is chilly :( wish i was there lucky punks xox

13-Jul-2009

Karawhuia Kaipara - Jus wondering... is this where we are regarding our top paddler. Are we that far away. I am just a new paddler and tautoko our top paddler (Tyrin) But... aue... are we that far off the pace?

13-Jul-2009

Kingi - i'm just glad i am not the only fulla who got smashed in tahiti, i know what it feels like.

13-Jul-2009

:o) - Yes we are. We are that far off the pace..

Thank you Lara for exposing our paddlers to the elite level of Tahitian paddling. To improve as a paddling nation, these experiences are vital and all the NZ V1 reps will be stronger for this experience.

13-Jul-2009

KL - Only in the mens division and the jnr boys div thats where Tahiti are really strong.

13-Jul-2009

Carol - Dont forget Tahiti have races like this just about every second weekend

13-Jul-2009

John H - I agree with o the only way were going to beat them is to compete against them as much as we can.

13-Jul-2009

Jass - Well done Lara your on the rite track.

13-Jul-2009

Nz - The only way to beat them is for all those comments to stop being nasty and to just appreciate where our representatives came. They all did awesome considering nz dont paddle 24/7 like they do. I reackon they all did well and big ups to all of them.

13-Jul-2009

Nz - The only way to beat them is for all those comments to stop being nasty and to just appreciate where our representatives came. They all did awesome considering nz dont paddle 24/7 like they do. I reackon they all did well and big ups to all of them.

13-Jul-2009

old kiwi paddler - Aotearoa used to be up there. Didn't Maui Kjeldsen get 3rd in the open and he was a junior at the time. He was winning the race comfortable but the lead boat got lost... and 2 Tahitians got over the line before Maui could take honours.
Had the lead boat not taken a detour the race would have been his.
Maybe Lara and Co could pick Maui's brains so that Aotearoa can set a serious challenge for that title.
Heck the cream of the cream of kiwi paddlers was sent over to represent us,.... Maybe.... they just need a different game plan.
Onwards and upwards.

13-Jul-2009

FASIFIT - Paddling to Tahitians is like what rugby is to most New Zealanders..Its there no 1 sport hardout..Built on history and tradition..NZ is still young at paddling and only time and obviously investing a bit of dollar in the sport will see our paddlers being consistently competitve at any race distance.

13-Jul-2009

wow - no they dont paddle 24/7. they also work like us, they just dont make excuses. training harder is not always the best thing, its training smarter. yes, they race and paddle alot, thats because they love the sport. like dammms comment, we used to have jnr & open mens teams that used to beat them or push them. let it go and set some goals for upcoming races.

13-Jul-2009

DAAAAMMMM!!! - i agree with old kiwi paddler.the next time we'll race against the tahitians will maybe be the world sprints. like them, we need our champion teams to go and race them, not a team of champions. our selections is a joke, follow the lead and win some races. i know of a few nz crews (open&jnrs) that have beaten them there on their waters & on their boats.

13-Jul-2009

more excuses - paddling has been going since 1987-88. its not that new here, we had the teams & we still have the teams. its just that the attitudes have changed. alot of talking & moaning but not enough walking.

13-Jul-2009