OUTRIGGING
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A NATIONAL women's short course silver medal has capped another stellar season for Port Macquarie's outrigger paddlers.
The Maroro open women's crew, which took bronze at last year's national titles, went one better this year with a second placing to Brisbane Outriggers on Saturday.
In windy conditions, the crew of Karen Newman, Fiona Baker, Mignon Piper, Dee Douglass, Kerry Owens and Chay Harihi held off third-placed Caloundra, who had the benefit of some local knowledge over the 10km course off neighbouring Mooloolaba.
Newman, who also has a coaching role at the club, said a good clean start was vital to the crew's success.
"The men's, women's and mixed crews all raced together in the short course, so there were about 50 canoes at the start line," she said.
"We managed to find some space at the start and made the most of our luck by getting away quickly and avoiding the tangle behind us.
"We've been training hard so there was no problem finishing off the race and we were all thrilled with the result."
Four of the girls - Newman, Owens, Douglass and Baker - joined Justin Levido and Garth Norris for the mixed long course on Sunday.
In a strongly contested race, the Maroro crew finished sixth in the Master division over the 16km course - another outstanding result for a combination that hadn't previously paddled together this season.
Norris said the regatta provided a fitting finale to an excellent season for the Port Macquarie club.
"Our campaign began with two gold medals at the Australian OC1/2 titles in December, so it's great to 'bookend' the season with another medal at national level," he said.
"In between, we picked up a gold medal at the NSW OC1/2 titles, bronze at the NSW OC6 Titles, and another three victories at races in Newcastle and Sydney.
"These results are a credit to all of our paddlers and our coaches, Wes Byrnes and Karen Newman, who give so much of their time to planning our preparation for each regatta."
For several of the club's paddlers, the off-season will be relatively brief, as preparation will soon be underway for the Queen Lili'uokalani race in Kona, Hawaii in September.