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Te Kai Whakarongo 9 December 2025 | Proudly locally owned and operated Issue 1187 Circulation 9800
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Local and third in the world
Dwane Herbert coming out of the water in Brazil with one of his winning catches.
BY PAULINE STEWART
D
wane Herbert of Whitianga last week won second place in the 2025 World Spear Fishing Championships in Brazil. This is the best New Zealand has ever done in the Open. Prior to this in this worldwide elite-athlete underwater sport, was eighth
place in 2000 achieved by Ian Warnock, of Whitianga. In 2003, Alex Edwards of New Zealand earned 2nd place for New Zealand in the Woman’s. However, in 2025, Dwane Herbert of New Zealand came third, very close behind first place winner, Tahitian, Dell Maratiniere. This was no easy victory. The
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championships are held every two years. This year there were seventy-five divers and there can only be three entries per country. Dwane’s fellow New Zealand spear fishers were Chris Marshall and Keiran Andrews. The tournament extends over two days with five hours of diving per day. Dwane travelled to Bra-
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zil, six weeks earlier to scout out the diving environment and to become familiar with the marine environment. This he did with no financial support. For the actual competition week, his wife Annabelle was there to cheer him on be it from the shore. On the home front, Dwane’s parents, Herb and Sandy Herbert have supported
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Dwane in his pursuit of excellence in spear fishing since he was a small boy. Dwane grew up in Whitianga cutting his teeth as a spear fisher while diving for Kina and Paua. He has won the New Zealand Spear Fishing Competition eleven times and the Australian title twice! Continued on page 3
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