Kawerau is fast becoming a mecca for the country's white water kayaking enthusiasts.

White Water Slalom New Zealand and the Kawerau District Council formed a partnership to further develop canoe slalom racing on theTarawera River behind the Waterhouse Street Reserve in Kawerau.   "It is an ideal venue for both training and racing as we can potentially utilize three sites on the river, catering for many levels of paddling.  The water is usually consistent and Kawerau is a central venue for the majority of the North Island paddlers" says Andy Fuller, one of NZ's top coaches.   For further information on the development of the permanent Whitewater Slalom Course click here.

The calendar for the 2008-09 season was

1/2 November 08  -  NI Race 1 - Training Camp Saturday, Racing Sunday  
8/9 December 08  -  Beginner/Intermediate Training Camp
10/11 January 09 -  Paddles up and Masters - Training camp Saturday, Racing Sunday
2/3 February 09   -   Beginner/Intermediate Training Camp
7/8 February 09   -   Junior/Senior Selection Races 3 & 4 for Oceania Champs
Easter 09           -   National Slalom Champs followed by Europe teams Training Camp   

NZ Whitewater Slalom National Championships

The NZ Whitewater Slalom National Championships held in Kawerau over the Easter weekend was a big event with over 600 runs down the course over the two days. Over 100 paddlers from throughout the country were challenged by the Australian Junior talent squad led by Australian Olympian Warwick Draper who placed 4^th at Beijing.

The course being developed on the Tarawera River is becoming one of the best whitewater slalom facilities in the country. “The gate infrastructure is fantastic” says Andy Fuller “It can take up to four hours to set a full course but the permanent structures installed within the past few months at Kawerau means we set the course within an hour and changes can be made within minutes.”

The clearing and planting work also undertaken by the Kawerau District Council has given spectators a fantastic view along the whole course and the retaining and track work not only allows competitors and officials easy access but provides seating for spectators.

Johann Roozenburg (Rotorua) won the Men’s K1 event with a time of 94.34 seconds ahead of Draper on a best time of 95.48 seconds.

New Zealand's first female canoe slalom Olympian, Luuka Jones (Tauranga) took out the season’s senior ranking trophy as well as the Women’s K1. Jones has spent the summer training in New Zealand but will soon be heading back to Europe for the summer race season. She will be competing in the World Cup Series and the World Championships held this year in Seo, Spain.

Shaun Higgins studying in his first year in Dunedin won the C1 and the C2 was won by the junior combination of Ben Gibb and Bradyn Church. (Tauranga.)

The U18 K1 Women’s and junior ranking trophy was won by Jane Nicholas, with K1 Men’s honours to Shaun Travers although Callum Gibb had the fastest K1 Junior time and collected the Junior ranking trophy.

Full results of the competition are available on http://www.slalomnz.org.nz/

NZ Junior and Senior Selection Races 7 & 8 February

Selection for the New Zealand Senior and Junior teams for the Olympic sport of canoe slalom could hinge on the final two races, in the four race series, being held on the Tarawera River Kawerau, February 7^th & 8^th.

The first races are the Oceania champs at Mangahao near Levin, the weekend before and once over the serious contenders will descend on Kawerau to train prior to the event.

As well as top New Zealand paddlers there will be an international flavour, with 2008 Olympians Daniele Molmenti, Italy and Vavrinec Hradilek, Czech Republic who is using the warm training conditions in New Zealand to escape from the sub zero temperatures of winter in Prague.

Vavrinec, who is 21, represented his country at the Beijing Olympics where he finished 11^th. The focus for the foreign visitors and top NZ paddlers is on the World Cups in June and July in Europe and the World Championships in September in Spain.

Top kiwi K1 man, Mike Dawson, who has now finished his finance degree will be heading off in early April for nine months to get more international race experience in USA, Europe and Africa. The other two current senior team K1 men are Aaron Osborne and Johann Roozenburg, who will be hoping they have done enough work over the summer to head off some of the younger paddlers and regain selection for 2009.

The number one contender in the women’s K1 is Tauranga’s Luuka Jones, who in 2008 made history as the first New Zealander to compete at an Olympics in women’s K1. Her main competition will be Louise Jull and Sarah Jane Luoni who have also been training overseas, Louise in Europe and Sarah Jane at the 2000 Sydney Olympic course in Penrith.

In the canoeing, C1 class the senior men from 2008 are both out with injury and other commitments, so the door will open for young guns Shaun Higgins and Brent Bastin to earn their first senior selection. However it is not just a case of being the next cab off the rank, there are strict time criteria that must be met.

The incumbent senior C2 crew of Bryden Nicholas and Andrew Robinson, who have had a break from paddling over the summer, will need to find some form quickly to ensure they again make the team.

Not only are the top seniors vying for NZ team honours, but junior team places are up for grabs. The junior team will travel to Europe in June to compete at a Junior Pre World event. Not only will they pitch themselves against each other but selection races give them the opportunity to see how they compete with the senior team members.

Juniors to watch out for are Tauranga’s Callum Gibb, 15, and his older brother Ben who pairs up in the C2 combination with Bradyn Church of Tauranga. Malcolm Gibson of Gore and Carl Whitehead, Te Puke, who on current form should fill the other junior K1 places. In the girls, the top contenders are Jane Nicholas and Kelly Travers from Tauranga with another Travers, Shaun, heading the C1 category rankings.

NZ Raft Team Selection Races 7 & 8 February

In conjunction with the NZ Whitewater Slalom selection races, Kawerau will also host the NZ Raft Team Selection tournament. 1^st placed Mens and Womans team will win the chance to represent New Zealand at the 2009 World Rafting Champs at Vrbas River Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Racing will start at 2 pm on both Saturday and Sunday. The course stretches over the entire three kayaking courses on the Tarawera River. The ‘top course’ known locally as ‘Upper Harry’s’ starts at Porrit Drive and finishes behind Firmin Field on Waterhouse St. This section will be used as a practice course during the mornings when the kayakers will be racing on the ‘middle course’ behind Waterhouse Reserve.

Saturday races are head-to-head knock out sprints running from the put in point at Porritt Drive down the three kayaking courses, finishing at the Hobson St take out point. Time trials start at 2 pm.

Sunday races will be even more challenging with teams having to negotiate slalom gates throughout the same 1 km course.

Organiser Lance Roozendaal says “The Tarawera River courses in Kawerau were chosen because of the fast flowing nature of the river and ease of access for spectator viewing. We are expecting between 10 raft teams and 15 teams to be competing, so race day will be very exciting.”

Training Camp Monday 8 & December 9

The objective of this training camp is to provide an opportunity to up skill all levels of paddler. It is expected that some will be beginner/novice paddlers, but more advanced will be catered for also. The camp will cover kayaking fundamentals such as forward paddling, other useful strokes, railing, ferry gliding, catching eddies as well as canoe slalom fundamentals. It is not essential to be able to roll.

More advanced paddlers can also benefit greatly from the coached time on the river and have done in previous years. Best efforts will be made to group paddlers by ability and suitable learning objectives/challenges set for each group. Advanced paddlers are expected to help support with rescue with a beginner group when not in their own session. This will be rostered.

Numbers may need to be limited. Please register by email to sueclarke@xtra.co.nz with payment to follow (cheque made to White Water Slalom New Zealand), ‘waiver’ and ‘health and information form’  by Monday December 1^st.    For further information and application forms click Training Camp .