Orakei Water Sports - World Championships in Hawai'i

Qualifying for the World Championships is a huge achievement for us. It reflects our commitment and hard work that we have been putting in over the last couple of years. It means we will be competing against the best teams from around the world, showcasing our skills and representing our club on an international stage in front of all the best Waka Ama paddlers from around the world. Our goal at Worlds is to take home the 500m Gold Medal for the12-man race🥇

Orakei Water Sports (OWS) is a Waka Ama club that was established in the early 2000s, located in Okahu Bay, Auckland. We founded OWS to create a club that stands apart, symbolized by our name "OWS," or "ours." Our vision was to build a unique, community based club where everyone is welcome, regardless of background or skill level.

At the 2023 Nationals, we managed 8th in the 12-man 500m. While this was a significant milestone for us, it also highlighted the need for further improvement. Following this, we set a goal to finish in the top 3 in 2024, which would qualify us for the World Championships. We knew that by continuing to dedicate ourselves, we could achieve this goal

By the time the 2024 NZ Waka Ama Sprint Nationals arrived, we were confident in the work we had put in. Our efforts paid off as we finished 3rd in the final, just 0.2 seconds behind first place. This achievement not only qualified us for the World Championships but was also the start of establishing Orakei Water Sports as a competitive club in New Zealand