The Soggy Potatoes of Callum Moore, Cameron Moore and Kevin Wu competed with success in the Aquabot Nationals at Nelson recently.

The Soggys joined three other Rotorua sides and 37 teams in total.

The Rotorua winners worked well as a team to support each other, approaching each of the four challenges with a plan.

Their final results were first in Harvest and Trade (collecting and delivering items underwater), third in Celestial Navigation (turning lights on underwater and completing a quiz on Pasifika navigation) and finished overall second in the primary/intermediate category out of 24 teams.

The team which came first overall, also from Rotorua, will be travelling to the USA in late May to compete in the Sea Perch International competition.

NZ AquaBots is an underwater robotics programme for school-aged children in New Zealand.

Teams are formed from Years 5 to 13 students and aim to inspire students and help discover the next generation of Kiwi scientists and engineers, while introducing potential engineering and robotics careers.

In mid-September Rotorua had their first Aquabots Regional in which 41 teams competed across four different events with six ultimately qualifying for the National Aquabots competition.

John Paul College Year 10 Boys gained in Harvest and Trade (collecting and delivering items underwater), first in Pacific Journeys (navigating underwater through an obstacle course), first in Presentation (a 10 min talk about their experience including scientific theory), second in Celestial Navigation (turning lights on underwater and completing a quiz on Pasifika navigation) and finished overall first in the High School category (out of eight teams).

JPC can now travel to the USA to compete in the Sea perch competition at the University of Maryland on May 30-31, 2020.

In the primary and intermediate division, Underwater Allstars from St Mary's were second in Harvest in Trade, first in Pacific Journeys.

The Malfroy Sharks from the Malfroy Montessori class gained third in Pacific Journey, first in Presentation, second in Celestial Navigation and overall first in the primary/intermediate category out of 24 teams.

They have also qualified to take part in the Sea Perch competition.