Women paddlers win second medal

The oe vaka Vaine Toa have bagged the Cook Islands second bronze medal after coming third in the vaka V12 500m sprint finals.

It wasnt the colour they wanted but they graciously accepted the reward for their fantastic effort with Tahiti once again blitzing the field for the gold medal.

The mens V12 came close but didnt make it into the top three medal placing while the squads impressive V1 paddlers Emilene Taulu and young Andre Tutaka-George made the grand finals of the V1 500m sprints after coming second in their first heat.

In the grand finals Taulu kept up with the top contenders but Tahiti and New Caledonia were just too fast with Taulu coming 4th in the end.

Tutaka-George also had a fantastic race but once again the Tahitians and New Caledonian paddlers pulled ahead in the last 250m to take the medals.

The paddlers now prepare for the marathon races in the next few days.