Congratulations to the 2026 NZ Canoe Sprint National Champions

The 2026  NZCT New Zealand Canoe Sprint Championships will be talked about for years to come – a different event to any in recent history as it was adapted as a result of cyclone Vaianu bearing down on the North Island of Aotearoa over the weekend. But the paddlers, clubs, event organisers and supporters  stepped up to the challenge, logging 14 hours of racing in a day and a quarter as officials did their best to compress 3 days of racing as conditions deteriorated.

Day one of racing saw every possible hour of daylight used with 11 hours of non-stop racing in near perfect conditions. It was a mammoth effort by everyone involved but well worth it to complete almost the entirety of the 1000m and 500m events.

3 hours of racing on Saturday morning was completed in windy and choppy conditions on the lake before officials made the call to cancel further racing in order to allow all participants to get home safely before the worst of the storm struck.

It was a true community event as everyone worked together to get as much racing as possible while ensuring safety and enjoyment, and it was a pleasure to watch, celebrate and recognise the skills, development and success of the New Zealand sprint kayaking community.

Congratulations to all competitors for getting out on the water and racing your hardest , in challenging circumstances. A special congratulations to all our newly crowned  2026 National Champions (see below) and placegetters.

Thank you to all participants, parents and whanau, club coaches, managers and helpers, volunteers and officials for your efforts and commitment at the event, especially your insights, understanding and cooperation as hard decisions needed to be made.

We sincerely apologise to paddlers who missed events due to schedule changes or were unable to complete in events due to the weather conditions and safety concerns. The 2.5km and 5km events will be rescheduled to run within a Paddler Winter series events (details to come) and consideration will be given to where we may be able to re-run other events next season.

The 2026 New Zealand Canoe Sprint National Champions are:

Full results
Event Photos thanks to Nicola Challis