The Hawke’s Bay based pair shared their journey at Performance Summit 2025, with Peter saying he hoped to prove athletes like himself can perform on the world stage. “I’ll give you something to talk about,” he says as he describes the two-year journey he and Myka undertook.
What immediately stands out about Peter and Myka’s journey is the shared commitment to whānau first, the foundation of their relationship and the way they put together their Paris campaign.
In their initial kōrero (talk) to begin planning the campaign it was evident that whānau was extremely important to both men and while setting campaign goals was critical, they had to be set respecting each other’s whānau.
“My training schedule had to work around my whānau,” says Peter. “For the last two to three years I’ve been a full-time athlete and an at home dad. My primary role is with my kids.
“What has been great is the understanding from all the team that I’m a dad first and athlete second.”
Peter says this created its own challenges. “I had to ensure time and space for whānau but also balance that out with key events such as World Champs and World Cups.”
Myka reinforces the same whānau first priority. “We had to build a campaign that worked for both our whānau. Peter has a wife and two young kids, I have a wife, kids and grandchildren.”
Reinforcing their shared Māori values, Myka says their Hastings connection has also been a strong link. “We come from either side of the river; we are both marae boys at heart.”
Another important cultural link has seen them overcome challenges of time off training as a result of a family bereavement.
“My father passed away in 2022 and then in 2024 both my grandfathers passed away within the space of two months in my preparation build up to the Paralympic Games. My koro, who I spent most of my time around, passed when I was in camp in Italy,” says Peter. “I was unable to be with the family for the tangihanga which, at first, I felt really guilty about.”
The competition journey to Paris was also not without its bumps.
“We had a schedule of events we had targeted in our goal to qualify a spot for Paris,” says Peter. “This started with our first big events together, the World Champs in 2022 where I made the A final, finishing with an 8th. The following year at World Cup 2023 we finished with a 4th in the A final. And then we arrived at the big one, our first ever paralympic qualifiers at World Champs 2023. This is where we experienced a significant setback in results.”
Myka takes up the story. “Duisberg, venue for the 2023 World Champs, was a critical point in our campaign. We’d been in camp, had some new technology and really felt the rhythm was there.”
“Simply put, the pressure got to me,” says Peter. “I showed up going through the usual race day processes and then blew out to finish last in the A final. It got worse, only making the B final in the World Cup test event a week later in Paris.”
It was back to the drawing board for coach and athlete as the number of qualifying spots for Paris was decreasing rapidly.
On the return to New Zealand, Peter started working with HPSNZ sports psychologist, Sarah De Wattignar.
A key learning for Peter from his work with Sarah was how to be OK with being nervous and scared, how to be comfortable with the unknown.
“It was amazing to see the change in Peter’s attitude and performance following his time with Sarah. We faced the same technical challenges but he was learning some important mental skills,” says Myka.
Another challenge the pair faced was a key technical element of waka ama. “There are two paddling techniques, one of which is founded in Polynesian culture. With a lot of pushing and reluctance, Peter changed his paddling technique to the more European canoe style,” says Myka.
“This was a real cultural issue for us but the results using an amazing data collection tool were compelling. We had had to put our Polynesian egos aside if we wanted to achieve our goals.”
The results of all the preparation, training and sacrifices came together in Paris. “I tried to stay disciplined and execute our race plan,” says Peter. “I didn’t expect the result but felt real joy that I had executed our plan.”
Myka says on the day both he and Peter felt calm. “But neither of us knew he had placed 3rd until we saw it on the big screen.”
Peter and Myka’s campaign is built on a commitment to whānau and the intrinsic Te Ao Māori values of waka ama view, while striving for high performance.
HPSNZ Head of Coaching, Daryl Gibson, says Peter and Myka exemplify an athlete-coach relationship built on trust, communication and a shared purpose. “That type of relationship evolves over time as the athlete matures and grows, moving from guidance to a genuine partnership. We certainly saw that with Peter and Myka in their Paris campaign which bodes so well for the future.”
