Year 12 student Cail Terry has been competing in Waka Ama for the last
seven years. Cail hails from Otaki,
where Waka Ama has a large following, and was first introduced to the sport by
family friends. Last year, he competed
in the New Zealand Secondary School Waka Ama Championships in the individual, under
16, 250m event. Next week Cail will
again head to Blue Lake, Rotorua, to compete in the national championships,
although he will move up a grade and be competing for the first time in the
under 19 category. As well as the 250m
individual event, he will also compete in the six-man team 250m and 500m
events, having joined up with competitors from Manukura. Cail explained that the 250m and 500m events
take place over the same course, with a turn thrown in for the 500m event,
meaning a higher level of skill and co-ordination is required. He currently trains most days at the Lagoon –
sometimes twice per day – in addition to regular trainings with the 1st
XV squad.
