New Zealand will go solo
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
There will be no need for a slash after Team New Zealand this week.
What: Sprint races in one-person canoes, six-person canoes and 12-person canoes. Races will be for various age groups over 500 meters, 1,000 meters and 1,500 meters. Where: Hilo Bay When: Today through Sunday, 7:30 a.m. start each day Who: More than 1,800 paddlers representing 20 countries and regions from around the world
With international pride on the line, paddlers from New Zealand will be on their own during the International Va'a Federation (IVF) World Sprints at Hilo Bay. More than 1,800 paddlers from around the world are expected to participate in the five-day event, which is scheduled to start today and run through Sunday.
IVF World Sprints
"New Zealand doesn't have a long history of ocean racing like Hawai'i has, so the World Sprints have become quite a big thing for the paddlers from New Zealand," said Team New Zealand's Rob Kaiwai.
Kaiwai said nearly 400 paddlers from New Zealand are in Hilo this week, and "it could have been more if it weren't so darn expensive" to travel to Hawai'i.
A handful of those New Zealand paddlers are already familiar to Hawai'i. Team New Zealand/Hawai'i — a mix of elite male paddlers from New Zealand and Hawai'i — won the Moloka'i Hoe last year and in 2001.
But at the World Sprints, paddlers must represent their home country or region. Hawai'i is considered its own region, and more than 500 local paddlers are expected to participate.
"I suppose it'll be like a friendly rivalry with all the different countries," said Team New Zealand's Andrew Penny. "Off the water, we're all friends. But once you're on the water, you're all out there to win."
Even without the Hawai'i paddlers, Team New Zealand is expected to contend for gold medals in the men's races. Joining Kaiwai and Penny on the crew are Maui Kjeldsen, Bo Herbert, Conan Herbert and Gavin Clarke.
Penny and Kjeldsen have moved from New Zealand to O'ahu in recent years, so the crew did not get to practice together until last weekend.
"We've been doing this for so long, it usually takes us only a couple of days to get used to each other again," Penny said.
Many of Hawai'i's best teams are entered, along with top teams from Australia, Tahiti and California. There will also be paddlers from unexpected places like Italy, France, Tonga and the Cook Islands.
"It's bizarre, actually, to see all the different techniques," Kaiwai said. "But it's also great for the sport to see so many different cultures united."
Two months from now, Team New Zealand will reunite with its Hawai'i teammates to defend their Moloka'i Hoe title as Team Zealand/Hawai'i.
"Normally, we'd come here just once a year for Moloka'i," Kaiwai said. "But the World Sprints really is big for us, so we wanted to be here for it."
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
