Haven Komene learned to dive bomb with his older cousins at Arapuni on the Waikato River and he put that experience to good use at the Manu world champs superqualifier in Hamilton on the weekend.
Harvey Komene about to splash
Komene’s 8.2m best splash though was well short of Marley Waaka-Te Amo who won the adult male category with a huge 12m splash.
But it’s not about winning for Kihikihi’s Haven, who was competing for the second year in an event where the aim is make the biggest splash possible.
“It’s just fun for me. It was a good day and the whānau were really supportive, messaging “good on you cuz!” and stuff. So yeah, I’ll keep fine-tuning and be back next year for sure.”
Waterworld in Hamilton was the place to be for the Z-sponsored manu event which saw the highest participation of the season so far and more females competing than ever.
There were 10 qualifiers across eight cities and then four super qualifiers in Wellington, Hamilton and two in Auckland where the grand final will be held on March 1.
“I got used to heights jumping along the Waikato River as a kid and I still just really like the feeling of being mid-air,” Komene said. “It’s kind of been a lifelong passion and I like to pull over and manu whenever and wherever I can. Raglan, Tauranga… I kind of go around collecting manu spots.”
Haven Komene from Kihikihi
