On Water Training
After The Great Waka Ama race finished our team had a break from trainings for about a week, then we got back into it starting with two on water trainings a week, one on Monday nights after uni and the other on Saturday mornings. Then in May we brought it up to three trainings a week, adding in a training on Wednesday afternoons in between lectures.
Here is a quick video that we shot earlier on in the year when we went for a quick paddle to Rangitoto Island on a sunny afternoon to introduce the team.
If the water is rough we’ll stay in close to shore and focus our training on sprints and heart rate control. Whereas if the water is fairly flat we’ll go out for long trainings and focus on getting more k’s under our belt, to help prepare ourselves for the 30km race in Hawaii.
You alright there Billy?
Our first double hull training.
What you looking at Nona?
The team is doing really well to accumulate distance at trainings.
Here are some cheeky shots of the team, with some lovely posing right after an 18km paddle. It’s good to know that after such a long paddle, the team still has enough energy to make themselves look good for the camera, good work team!
Dallas sharing the wairua
The team
The 25km course we paddled
Last year in Hawaii our team won the Open Mixed division for the Wa’a Kaukahi race covering the 30km in 2 hours and 25 minutes. Our goal this year is to return to Hawaii and once again bring home the gold medal for this race, but we also hope to improve our time from last year. So for us this year it is important that we bring up the distance we paddle at trainings to well prepare ourselves for the race, as last year we only reached 30km once at trainings and it took quite a while for our team to bring up our fitness and strength to be able to paddle great distances. Our team is doing well this year though, paddles that were considered long last year are short this year. We reached 20km fairly early on in the year, so our team has been pumping out 20+ km’s at trainings quite often.
On July 8th our team reached 25km at training with a moving time of 2:15:53. This was a really good training for us as this is the farthest we’ve paddled at training and it is the closest we’ve gotten to that 30km mark. Despite still having not reached that 30km at training, we hope to reach it very soon, and we’ll keep you guys updated on how it goes.
Personal profiles of the week
First up we have…
Name: Jessica Retter
Degree: Third year Chemicals and Materials Engineering conjoint with Commerce.
From: Howick, Auckland.
When did you start paddling?
January this year.
What do you hope to get out of the trip?
To win.
As one of the newest members of the team, what’s it like to be a Floating Eagle?
I don’t think I find trainings as cold as everyone else, but it’s lots of fun and I’m looking forward to the trip.
Next up we have…
Name: Josie Stevens
Degree: Fourth year Civil Engineering.
From: Mt Eden, Auckland.
When did you start paddling?
January 2016.
What do you hope to get out of the trip?
I hope to get closer with my team and enjoy my time with them as much as possible, as our time together is short as many of us will hopefully be graduating soon!
Second Race
Our second race that we entered was the 23rd Annual Whaingaroa Hoe held in Raglan on the 13th of May. The course set out was 24km.
The 24km course for the race.
The team after the race.
For this race the team welcomed back Cara Berghan, a former team member from last years Hawaii trip, to lend a keen hand for the race. With Cara paddling with us for this race we had 5 out 6 team members from last year, so the team was quite strong as they had all paddled far greater distances than 24km, however for Sarah this was the farthest she had ever paddled, but she did really well to keep up with the rest of the team.
The team came 9th overall out of 51 teams and 5th in the Open Mixed Division with a time of 2:00:11 right behind Mojos Te Toki in 4th place with a time of 2:00:05, so it was a really close finish between us and Te Toki for that 4th place, but both teams paddled really well.
The team had a lot of fun at the race and it was such a good experience for everyone. We were very humbled and happy to have you paddle with us again Cara.
If you want to see more videos of your favourite Floating Eagles check out our very own Billy Bowman’s Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdeDrtZvO9PhF5L-LWi3Cfw/videos?shelf_id=0&view=0&sort=dd for more.
Stay tuned till next week!