Spa at QE-sponsored team wins World Rafting Championships

Spa at QE-sponsored team wins 2013 World Rafting Championships

By Lee Stace
November 27, 2013

The Spa at QE-sponsored New Zealand Men’s Masters rafting team can now lay claim to being the best in the world.

The New Zealand Men’s Masters won the overall gold medal at the 2013 World Rafting Championships – which culminated last Sunday after racing was held on the Kaituna, Tarawera and Rangitaiki rivers.

The event comprised four legs: the sprint race, the head to head, the slalom and the down river race. The New Zealanders won gold in three of these individual legs and were relegated to silver by the Czech Republic in the slalom race.

Spa at QE in Rotorua sponsored the Kiwi outfit in the six months leading up to the World Rafting Championships.

QE Health helped the New Zealand Men’s Masters team with its fitness by providing all seven members with unlimited use of its Rachel Pool. The crew’s four local members were also granted six months’ usage in the 240sq m, newly renovated fitness gym.

If their results at the World Rafting Championships are anything to go by, the use of the facilities at QE Health clearly had a positive impact on the team’s overall performance.

Last Thursday, the New Zealand Men’s Masters made a great start to the global competition, snaring gold ahead of the Czech Republic in the sprint event on the Kaituna River.

They won their second gold medal the following day by edging the same opponents in the head to head race.

The Czech Republic pulled a victory back on Saturday after finishing ahead of New Zealand in the slalom event on the Tarawera River, meaning the teams headed into the final day neck and neck on points.

However, the New Zealanders were not to be denied, recording a crushing 1m 10s victory over their rivals in the down river race on the Rangitaiki River to claim their third gold medal and the overall title.

Spa at QE also sponsored the New Zealand Men’s Under 23 rafting team by giving its seven Rotorua-based members access to its facilities.

The crew finished fourth overall at the World Rafting Championships, with its best result being a third-place finish in the slalom event.

ENDS

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