Waka Ama Teams from across the country will converge at Lake Karāpiro today for the 27th Annual Te Wānanga o Aotearoa Waka Ama National Sprints.
A pōhiri this morning will kick off festivities and the Midget Teams will begin the competition with a series of races.
According to organisers a record number of paddlers have signed up to compete this year.
Over 1500 teams from 65 clubs will race for the sprint title.
It’s expected that around 3000 paddlers will compete across ten age divisions.
Waka Ama New Zealand CEO, Lara Collins told Te Kāea that this year's Club Sprint Nationals will be the biggest and most exciting yet.
“We had record numbers last year and we’ve broken that record again this year with more than 3,000 paddlers signed up to race. We’ve got crews coming from all over the country from as far north as Kaitaia down to Christchurch. There are going to be huge crowds lakeside watching the regatta.”
It was also announced this year that Te Wānanga o Aotearoa would be a major sponsor of Waka Ama New Zealand.
Executive Director Marketing at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa, Hone Paul says Waka Ama is "well and truly part of the whakapapa of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa."
"More than 1,700 tauira (students) across the country have successfully completed a waka ama qualification with Te Wānanga o Aotearoa,” says Paul.
Waka Ama paddlers race over distances including 500m, 1500m and marathon races of 30km-75km.
The event runs throughout the week and races will be uploaded to the Māori Television website from Tuesday the 19th of January.