As teams gear up for the International Va’a Federation (IVF) World Sprints, Elite J19 Men coach Patrick (Paddy) Harding-Rimene reflects on the invaluable support from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa which paved the route for his rangatahi squad.
Paddy is our Level 4 Waka Ambassador to Waka Ama NZ and the programme’s kaiako based in Masterton. Besides his mahi spreading love for the sport among tauira, he has coached the country’s J19 men’s team since 2020.
Races alternate between sprints and distance events each year, and 2024 will see teams converge in Hawai’i for Sprint races. The long-term partnership between Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Waka Ama NZ has been instrumental.
“Having the support of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has been massive in terms of allowing them to concentrate and focus on being the best they can for the team. Not having to worry about the small things like transport to training means a lot. We’ve had waka from Te Wānanga o Aotearoa to train with, vehicles to tow, vans to transport the boys, all of it has been so valuable,” says Paddy.
This is Paddy’s third year preparing a crew for competition overseas, after the 2020 and 2021 races were cancelled due to the pandemic. In 2022 his J19 team won gold at the London World Sprints Championship and last year second in the World Distance Championships in Samoa.
Paddy has high hopes for his meticulously selected crew in Hawai’i, knowing that they worked tirelessly for this opportunity to race the best paddlers in the world on ancestral waters. This would be the first time to Hawai’i for each of the 7-person crew.
“It’s not easy to put your name in a hat that everyone has their eye on. These young men put themselves forward, out of their comfort zone, and invested a lot of time and energy into training, but 100% why this team is so strong is because I’ve been able to nurture a culture that is very Māori,” he says.
Similar to teaching waka ama to tauira, Paddy prioritises ngā uara (values) and tikanga in his coaching. He claims that the most important thing is feeling connected and the way he presents waka ama is by grounding rangatahi in those values.
“I can’t teach these young men how to be fast, they’re already fast. All I’m doing is bringing them together and allowing them that opportunity to enhance their skills. We all know to make a good waka team you must have connection and the values brought out in training are things they are familiar with – they know these, and they embrace them in order to put their energy in the right place,” says Paddy.
An accomplished athlete himself, Paddy’s personal journey is equally inspiring. A former rugby player with an international career, in 2009 he shifted gears after witnessing how waka ama had transformed his son. Feeling that he needed a dose of the same stimulus, his competitive spirit found a new home on the water.
“At the time, I was in a bit of a heavy space with losing my brother to rheumatic fever and things felt overwhelming. I was up in Karapiro to watch my son race and seeing him with his teammates – how confident he was, how at ease he was doing something he enjoyed – I gave up rugby, bought a paddle and got on the water that same day,” he laughs.
It didn’t take Paddy long to prove he had what it took and found himself at the 2010 World Sprint Championships in New Caledonia. In 2012 he and wife Kath started the Wairarapa Waka Ama Club, and the rest is history.
Putting his own competitive aspirations aside, Paddy focuses all his effort on teaching and coaching waka ama and thanks to the unwavering support of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, he feels like he hasn’t worked a day since.
Paddy embodies the spirit of waka ama – a blend of skill, culture and heart. We wish the Elite J19 Men’s team and the entire Waka Ama NZ contingent a successful and exhilarating time!
Learn more about our Waka Ama programmes.