Dame Lisa Carrington posed for hundreds of photos during the national canoeing championships at Karapiro including this one.
Lisa Carrington brought her star power to Waipā’s Lake Karāpiro at the weekend and had to call on all her fighting ability to even things up with K1 500m rival Aimee Fisher.
Given all the activity off the water – with hundreds of young and not so young fans queuing up to have selfies taken – it is something of a miracle she went into today’s (Thursday) decider at Karāpiro with a chance to qualify for the world championships.
Carrington beat Fisher in race three at Lake Karapiro on Thursday to secure the solitary New Zealand berth in the women’s K1 500m at this year’s world championships.
The Olympic great made her customary fast start and held off a late finish from Fisher in cold, blustery conditions. The final margin was 0.61 seconds or about half a boat-length, with Carrington clocking a winning time of 1:48.86.
And while New Zealand’s greatest female Olympian, made a Dame in the New Year’s Honours for her exploits, was in one battle arborists from around Waikato and the Bay of Plenty were in another.
Ra Singh of Auckland leaps towards the dummy during the aerial rescue.
In the first of four Husqvarna New Zealand Tree Climbing regional events, competitors scaled Karāpiro’s huge Mighty River Domain trees in a bid to qualify for the national championships later this year.
Events in the NZ Arboricultural Association competition included aerial rescue, where the arborist retrieves a model from high in a tree, work climb, throw line and speed climb and ascent.Meanwhile the public were given 100 native trees donated by Hamilton City Council.
Londoner Liam Sellick, who now lives and works in Rotorua, said he was loving the opportunity to compete at Karāpiro. He spent Covid lockdown in New Zealand and considers himself luckier than his friends and family back in England.
A large wedding capped off the weekend which had site manager and Waipā deputy mayor Liz Stolwyk searching for superlatives to sum up how it felt getting back to normal with more than 3000 people in attendance.
“This really was a weekend that offered something for everyone and it was great to see the venue busy again.
“We continue to see strong forward bookings over this autumn and winter, including lots of enquiries for single and multi-day conferences and events.
“We really are back in action,” she said.
Stolwyk said the world-class infrastructure at the domain had placed the district in a strong recovery position while excellent relationships with event hosts, corporates, and clubs had made navigation through any changes easier.
“We have also been able to build up an experienced team of individuals who can adapt well in many environments so I am confident we hold a unique advantage over other venues.”
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- Kyle Hallett abseiling at Karapiro
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- Sam Smith of Auckland competes in the aerial rescue
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- Dame Lisa Carrington with her spoils at Lake Karapiro.
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- Chris van Drimmelen, left, of Morrinsville helps Kyle Hallett, right, of Hamilton with his abseiling equipment.
RESULTS NZ Arb Husqvarna Wai/BoP Regional TCC 2022
Treetech Mens’ Masters
1st Troy Sircombe
2nd Noel Galloway
3rd Jonny Muirhead
Levin Sawmakers/ Yale Cordage Womens’ Masters 1st Stephanie Dryfhout 2nd Brianna Uivel 3rd Kimberly Adams
Overall Ranking Men
1st Sam Smith (Ak)
2nd Noel Galloway
3rd Sam Turner (Ak)
4th Troy Sircombe
5th Jonny Muirhead
6th Daniel Campbell
Overall Ranking Women
1st Stephanie Dryfhout
2nd Brianna Uivel (Ak)
3rd Kimberly Adams
Silky Saws Aerial Rescue
Men
1st Sam Smith (Ak)
2nd Noel Galloway
3rd Jack Streat (Ak)
4th Sam Turner (Ak)
5th Troy Sircombe
6th Jonny Muirhead
Women
1st Stephanie Dryfhout
2nd Kimberly Adams
3rd Brianna Uivel (Ak)
Donaghys Ascent Event
Men
1st Troy Sircombe
2nd Sam Smith (Ak)
3rd Noel Galloway
4th Sam Turner (Ak)
5th Chris Van Drimmelen
Women
1st Stephanie Dryfhout
2nd Brianna Uivel
3rd Kimberly Adams
AB Equipment Belayed Speed Climb
Men
1st Sam Turner (Ak)
2nd Torez Wiperi
3rd Jonny Muirhead
4th Ra Singh (Ak)
5th Kahu McLean-Robinson (Wtg)
6th Daniel Campbell
Women
1st Stephanie Dryfhout
2nd Brianna Uivel (Ak)
3rd Kimberly Adams
Treescape Throwline
Men
1st Noel Galloway
2nd Tom Crawford
3rd Troy Sircombe
Women
1st Stephanie Dryfhout
2nd Brianna Uivel (Ak)
3rd Kimberly Adams
TreeHub Work Climb
Men
1st Jonny Muirhead
2nd Daniel Campbell
3rd Sam Turner (Ak)
4th Sam Smith (Ak)
5th Noel Galloway
Women
1st Stephanie Dryfhout
2nd Brianna Uivel (Ak)
3rd Kimberly Adams
GreenCycle New Arborist of the Year
1st Liam Sellick
2nd Jason Gwynn
Spirit of the Competition
Kimberly Adams
Volunteer of the Day
Jamie Brunt
Biggest Effort of the Day
Craig Wilson
