Defending champion Deborah Lynch and four-time champion Elina Ussher can expect to be challenged by as many as 10 other capable athletes.
The outcome may come down to the small margins and processes employed throughout the 243km course, as all have the competitive nous and instinct to turn opportunity into gold.
Among the contenders is a rising star from Wānaka in South African-born Cat Atkinson.
Atkinson, 32, a civil engineer with the Department of Conservation, was born to paddle.
Her family owned and operated a river rafting business in East London, Natal, and from an early age Atkinson lived to ride the rapids.
She competed in grade 3 South African river races with distinction, so Saturday’s 70km grade 2 paddle down the Waimakariri may prove to be a walk in the park with the anticipated higher river level this year.
"River paddling in South Africa is a whole sport in its own — the rapids are something else," Atkinson said.
Atkinson, who will tackle the Longest Day course for a third time, was introduced to the Coast to Coast by South African friend and 2018 champion Robyn Owen.
She contested the 2024 event with a borrowed kayak and traversed the Waimakariri River stage for the first time in the race, finishing mid-field.
"I fell in love with Coast to Coast and New Zealand and decided to move here," she said.
Atkinson returned for last year’s Longest Day, finishing ninth overall in 14hr 17min 8sec, while placing second in the open women’s category.
The result catapulted her into the elite grade this year.
"The women’s field is going to be so strong this year," Atkinson said.
"There is just so many names and with Simone [five-time champion Simone Maier] being out, it’s going to be anybody’s game."
Atkinson said she had been training harder than she did last year, but it would come down to what unfolded on the day.
"Just making the top 10 this year is going to be an achievement."
She expects one of her main rivals to be training colleague Nat Phillips, who got bitten by the Coast to Coast bug when crewing for her at the event last year.
Like Atkinson in 2024, Phillips has decided to blood herself into the race through the brutal Longest Day.
Phillips, a respected runner and cyclist, only began paddling eight months ago, coming under the training expertise of Atkinson and Coast to Coast veteran Bob McLachlan.
An insight into the Longest Day came in October at the Challenge Wānaka multisport race when Coast to Coast two-day champion Emily Trevail and Phillips finished first and second respectively ahead of Maier.
A road accident when she T-boned a car that pulled out in front of her on a training ride has sidelined Phillips over the past two weeks, but the arrival of a new bike and fresh legs from the enforced rest has her hungering to race.
Atkinson said it would come as no surprise to see Phillips land in the top five, and because she was racing in the open category, she came in as an underdog and that could make her a real threat.
The two have the utmost respect for each other, with Phillips talking up Atkinson’s chances.
"She is an absolute weapon in the kayak," Phillips said.
"She is just so impressive to see. Fingers crossed she can hold it on the run and bike as well."
Phillips won the women’s section of Dunedin’s Three Peaks mountain race last year, so it would come as no surprise to see her featuring early on, opening up the race to be determined on the river and 70km final bike to the finish.
Another Wānaka-based athlete who could feature is Piper Cavanagh, who should be a contender in the associated two-day event beginning on Friday.
By Wayne Parsons
