A major rowing regatta is taking place this weekend at Orewa Beach – the NZ Beach Sprint Championships.
With beach sprints having been named an Olympic discipline going forward, the event will be garnering plenty of interest.
Holly Chaafe is one of those competing over the weekend, and joined D’Arcy to discuss the event.
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Episode Transcript
You're listening to the All Sport Breakfast podcast with Darcy
Wildgrave from News Talk SEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
It's rowing now. It's a rather large regatta happening in
downtown audi Weak Beach, just north of Auckland. It's the
New Zealand Beach Sprint Championships. Holy Chafe will be racing
over the weekend tas she joins us now more in Holly,
Good morning. Big three days out to Audiwa, a long
weekend and you're going out to it'sal the work really
(00:34):
hard as opposed to relax. That's not what a public
holiday is all about.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Is it. Ah, It's all pretty fun.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
That's a really cool atmosphere with everyone coming together and
kind of going for the same goal.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's a big event, a big regatta. It's a New
Zealand Beach Sprint Championships at Adiwa. Could you encapsulate what
that is? This is a new discipline, a new Olympic discipline.
Talk to us about what it actually is, that the
process of it, what you do. Because I know there's
a beach sprint in there which sounds higher walk is
running through sand is awful, But talk to us about
(01:08):
the event itself.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
Holy, So you have two boats that go head to head,
and unlike traditional rowing, you start on land and you
have to run across the beach to your boat. You
have to get in your boat and then you slalom between.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
Three big boys.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
You spend one hundred and eighty and you come straight
back to the beach, so that all up is like
five hundred meters, and then you have to jump out
of the boat and run back up to the beach
to cross the finish line.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Sounds like cruel and unusual punishment. Finishing with a beat sprint?
Is that the hardest part of the whole event.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Yeah, having to jump out of the boat when it's
still moving is pretty hard. I've definitely had my fair
share of face plants into the sand.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
It's coming up at the LA Olympics. It's a new sport.
Em Twig you may have heard of us. She's quite
handy in a rowboat. She's competing in this. Now, he's
doing this. Now, what about yourself? Are you aiming towards
Olympic representation? Is that the general plan for your competition.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I'm at the moment hoping to after this weekend get
a trial for their World beach Sprint.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
Championship team this.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
Year, and those are kind of like the building.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Blocks towards the Olympics.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
So hopefully I do well enough to get a trial
and then see how we go.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Historically your involvement in this. Have you been doing this
beach sprint for a while? You come from a rowing background?
Why this, Holly?
Speaker 4 (02:45):
It was a pretty cool opportunity. Traditional flatwater rowing, I've
done that for quite a few years, but I've only
really been involved in beach sprints for the last week
two years.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
My rowing club really pushed to start it, like to
start building them.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
I mentum up in Auckland, so I kind of joined
in with that and then found that it was actually
really really fun, so kind of keep going.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Key attributes to be a successful beach sprint roller what
are they.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
Being out of?
Speaker 4 (03:17):
Like sprint pretty fast on the beach and then being
agile enough to get in the boat, and then just
being pretty mentally tough and being able to just give it.
You're all both on the water and the land.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
You got oars, you're in a boat, but there the
similarity ends from traditional flat water rowing to this. It's
a very different environment. How long did it take you
to get used to the sea pretty much.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
I would say I'm probably still getting used to it
because every single time.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
You go out it's different. If you go out on
a flat.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Day, then the boat can be pretty heavy, and then
if you go out on a rough day then kind
of just being battered by the waves and having to
kind of figure out and like use your skills and
your knowledge of how to get through that and then
hopefully catch the waves on the way back to make
the boat lighter.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
What's the competition like in New Zealand leading to the
World Champs and then almost up to the Olympics. Is
that I know there's a lot of Pacific teams coming
over as well, but that the state of the play
in your arena. Is there a lot of competition there?
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Yeah, So I think we have over two hundred entries
for this weekend, which is pretty huge, and there's quite
a lot of competition, especially up in their open and
senior categories of people going trying to make it into
that World Champ team is pretty huge.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
A lot of people have come over.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
From flatwater rolling and do both disciplines like me, which
is pretty cool.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
The next question, it'll be the last one too, and
Holly chaf Thanks very much for joining us. Are you
any good? Have you got the potential to actually head
to LA in a couple of years?
Speaker 3 (05:09):
I mean hopefully. It's kind of just something that.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
You kind of like a goal you keep in the
back of your mind, but you kind of focus more
on those goals that are ahead of you. So I'm
hoping to do pretty well at nationals and then get
that trial, and then last year I managed to go
to the World beat sprint finals in Turkey as.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
The women's reserve, so hoping to build on that this year.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Anyway, is up? Holy j thanks so much for joining us.
You look after yourself, enjoy your long weekend, and I
get the suspicious feeling you'll enjoy it far too much.
Thanks for your time.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
Thank you for more from your sport Breakfast with Darcy Watergrave.
Listen live to news talks they'd be on Saturday mornings,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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