Over the weekend of February 17-18, the Canterbury Jet Sport Club played host to the South Island Jetski Championships at Lake Roto Kohatu Reserve.

Year 11 student Joel Clarke was competing in two classes, which ended up being back-to-back races, and over the seven rounds of the weekend he completed more than 90 laps! He was then back on Monday morning at 7am in the gym for rugby pre–season strength and conditioning.

The event is the largest in New Zealand for the racing season with plenty of riders travelling from the North Island and Australia.

As things washed out over the weekend Joel took first place in the Open 1049cc class, and in the Amateur standup class placed second overall. These are great results in a competitive field in only Joel's third year of racing and first year in the Open grades.

Asking Joel what’s next, a definitive, “play time's over, bring on rugby season”.