Jimmy paddling in a previous dragon boat race. Photo: Supplied.
Te Awamutu Intermediate School deputy principal Jimmy Heta is set to make a splash on the world stage next month.
He’s been selected in the New Zealand Black Dragons team to compete at the 2023 International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) World Nations Championships in Pattaya, Thailand.
The championships were last held in 2019 – before the Covid 19 pandemic.
The New Zealand squad will be made up of about five crews.
Heta will compete in the senior B crew and coach the New Zealand premier team.
Dragon boating, a canoe sport about 2000 years old, involves crews of up to 22 people in each boat.
With 20 paddlers sitting two abreast, another crew member sets the boat’s pace and a sweep steers from the back while standing.“I love the sport,” Heta said.
“We have paddlers from all over New Zealand – as far south as Dunedin – and we’re about to complete the last of two training camps at Hamilton’s Lake Rotoroa before we leave.”
Heta first picked up a paddle in 1985 while in high school and started in waka kaupapa, traditional maori canoes, before shifting to waka tētē and then waka taua – ceremonial war canoes.
He’s previously paddled at Ngāruawāhia’s Turangawaewae regatta.
After competing in waka ama, he set his sights on dragon boating in 1991.Heta first trialled for the New Zealand’s men’s team four years later in 1995, though wasn’t selected.“Looking back, I can see I was still quite young in the sport.
“A lot of my friends encouraged me to stick with it though – and so, as a group, we have.
“Since about 1996, we’ve all paddled together in the same club team, Hamilton City Watersports. Staying together as a group for so long has helped us build that team up to the point we’ve now been national champions many times.”
When a team wins a national title, they can represent New Zealand at the International Dragon Boat Federation (IDBF) Club Crew World Championships.
Jimmy Heta
Hamilton City Watersports have represented New Zealand at international club level many times – the last occasion being in Szeged, Hungary in 2018.
Splitting their paddlers into men’s women’s and mixed crews to compete, and pitting themselves against the “world’s best club teams”, the crew placed fourth overall.
“It’s all about the consistency of competing together and that time spent simply paddling together.
“Our women’s crew have been dominating the world in the club scene – they’re current world club champions in their division as well.
“It’s funny, we’ve got some guys in our crew who are nearly 70 years old, and we regularly come up against strong, young, up and coming paddlers.
“When we line up at the start, I smile when they see us, guys with grey hair and beards, and maybe think ‘we don’t need to worry about them’.
“But, counting us out is their biggest mistake,” Heta smiled.
Those young paddlers are among the demographic Heta wants to see increase in dragon boating.
“I’ve been around the sport for a long time now, so with coaching, for me it’s been all about sharing the knowledge I’ve gained with others.”
Last year, Heta started coaching the Waikato Treasure Chests Dragon Boat Club crew, made up of paddlers who are breast cancer survivors.
Under his guidance, at April’s International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission (IBCPC) Participatory Dragon Boat Festival at Lake Karapiro, the Treasure Chests won the world title in their category.
“In dragon boating, lots of friendships are developed – I even met my wife Jenny through the sport.”
In Thailand, where he’ll be joined by several of his Hamilton Watersports teammates in the New Zealand squad, crews will race over 200m 500m, 1000m and 2000m.
The Black Dragons leave for Thailand at the end of the month, giving themselves a few days to acclimatise before the world championships hit the water in early August.
