Wednesday 30 March 2022 3:32pm
Although not usually associated with things nautical a special attribute – “gravitas” – gained Carol Forbes (Humanities Specialist Academic Committee and Services) and Dr Naomi Ingram (College of Education) bronze at the South Island Senior Surf Lifesaving competition in February.
Carol and Naomi’s four-person surf canoe team, the Moana Rua Goddesses, paddle for the Warrington Surf Lifesaving Club Masters team.
Dr Naomi Ingram
They race in local inter-club competitions to prepare for the South Islands Championships and Surf Lifesaving National Masters competition. They train twice a week and a highlight is often having dolphins swimming between the bows and keeping up with the boat.
Naomi says because the local inter-club and South Island Champs do not have a Masters category for canoe, the team has to race in the Open Women’s section where the average age of the other crews is 25 years younger, many of them University of Otago students (including Naomi’s daughter, an Otago law student).
The two main events for canoe – Long Course and Short Course – each involve three races out to a buoy and back to the beach.
“In surf anything can happen and in each race you are at the mercy of the waves. In the [February] Long Course event the Goddesses’ used good technique and were able to gain ground slowly over the younger, stronger, fitter crews finishing fourth overall,” Naomi says.
Pleased with themselves, the team was pragmatic about the faster Short Course event; placing last in the first race and third in the second race, they were realistic about the final race.
After a good start in the final they reached the buoy about the same time as the front pack but just as they rounded it, a wave presented itself.
Naomi says four boats had a chance on that wave but the Moana Rua Goddesses had something the others did not – gravitas. Moving forward to the front of the boat, they were able to ride the wave and get in front of it and their competitors.
"It swept us back to the beach in glorious fashion ready for Carol to sprint triumphantly through the flags to claim first place in the race, giving us the bronze medal!”
