9 Toa Vaine praised for race effort

Toa Vaine paddlers were honoured on Saturday night for a fantastic Te Aito Cook Islands race for women on Friday afternoon.

Nine female paddlers braved rough sea conditions and all deserve a medal for tackling the challenging conditions.

Kiwi paddler and New Zealand Te Aito champion Vesna Radonich was the outright winner of the race with a strong performance on the water.

Radonich clocked 1.13.37 over the 12km course followed five minutes later by local paddler Serena Hunter in a time of 1.19.58 followed by Vaea Melvin in third in a time of 1.25.46.

Yesterday the Te Aito Tane and Tama race for open, master and under 19 paddlers was run over a unique course that was to start inside Avarua harbour and head toward Avana.

At Avana, paddlers would enter the passage and race towards Tikioki to the swimming pontoon at the Fruits of Raro swimming spot and return to Muri lagoon ending with a run up the beach to Pacific Resort.

For the under 19 paddlers – their race was to end at Pacific Resort after entering the Avana passage.