Te Wānanga o Aotearoa kaimahi claims gold at Waka Ama World Championship
Ken Henry (Te Whakatōhea, Waikato-Tainui) is a Tauira Support Advisor at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Whakatāne campus who took home gold at the Waka Ama World Championships in Singapore in August.
He began his Waka Ama journey in Whakatāne, paddling with the Tuatara and Whakatāne Waka Ama clubs. As he developed as a paddler, he went on to compete with Ruamata in Rotorua and Hoe Aroha in Mount Maunganui.
"Each of these clubs has played an important role in my journey. They have given me opportunities to learn and grow, challenge myself, and build lifelong friendships."
For Ken, Waka Ama has become about much more than a sport. He says it has given him a greater sense of identity and connected him with some great people along the way.
"The whanaungatanga and being surrounded by positive, like-minded people who continually challenge themselves to be better has had a huge impact on my life."
Waka Ama became even more important to Ken when he was first diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
"It gave me a source of purpose and a reason to keep pushing forward."
Despite the challenges of his diagnosis, Ken continued paddling. In 2018, he competed at his first Waka Ama World Championships in Tahiti.
"Competing in Tahiti, surrounded by the world’s best paddlers, inspired and motivated me. I came home with a dream. I wanted to become a world champion."
Not long after returning from Tahiti, Ken’s health took another turn. With the support of his whānau and community, he rebuilt his strength and went on to win gold at the Waka Ama World Championships in Singapore this August.
"If someone had told me when I first started paddling that one day I’d be standing on a podium as a world champion after everything I’d been through, I probably wouldn’t have believed them. Representing Aotearoa represented years of perseverance, setbacks, recovery and determination."
Ken’s hopes his story encourages others to keep going.
"Sometimes when you don’t have the strength to believe in yourself, you need people around you who will believe in you until you can believe in yourself again. You don’t paddle through life alone, you paddle together."
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