2010/2011 Tarawera River Whitewater Kawerau Events

Once again the mighty Tarawera River in Kawerau will be the venue for much more white water events both for the elite sports person and novice paddler.

After many successes in the 2010/11 summer with NZ slalom holding the Selection & Ranking races, Secondary School Nationals and the Nationals in Kawerau there is set to be a return of more elite kayakers returning to Kawerau. There will also be the return of the immensely popular Seriously Social Rafting Comps.

New Zealand Canoe Slalom and the Kawerau District Council formed a partnership in 2007 to further develop canoe slalom racing on the Tarawera River behind the Waterhouse Street Reserve in Kawerau. "It is an ideal venue for both training camps 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 coach.

The calendar for the 2011/12 season is: The slalom course on the Tarawera River

Date	Event
26 Nov 2011	Seriously Social Rafting Comp
14-16 Dec 2011	NZ Canoe Slalom Training Camp
17-19 Jan 2012	NZ Canoe Slalom Training Camp
21 & 22 Jan 2012	NZ Canoe Slalom Selection & Rankings 1 & 2
11 Feb 2012	BOP Canoe Slalom Beginners-Intermediate Race
10 March 2012	North Island Champs
7 April 2012	Seriously Social Rafting Comp

New Zealand is an extremely popular tourist destination for world wide visitors and many come to experience the amazing white water rafting tours throughout the country. The relatively unknown competitive white water paddling competitions however, are a new sport and have only been attractive to a select few in New Zealand, but with incredible countries and stunning environments to be explored at International level, this sport is gradually becoming more popular in New Zealand, especially Kawerau.

Kawerau District Council has been developing a relationship with the Association of Competitive Paddlers and as a result Kawerau is now offering excellent fun competitive rafting competitions. The Seriously Social rafting series has already attracted over 250 competitors in its first year and expects to keep growing in its second season.

Competitive youth rafting has recently been inroduced into the World Champs and at present there is no NZ youth raft team to represent the nation. Seriously Social rafting is an excellent way to give raft racing a go and it may lead you onto the world stage in the future. Therefore this competition is ideal for college age students through to corporate businesses simply looking for a bit of fun team building.

Seriously Social rafting offers the competitors a unique rafting experience in a race format at an extremely affordable price and is simply serious fun. Social rafting on the Tarawera River

Canoe Slalom NZ

After a winter away in the Northern Hemisphere most of New Zealand's top kayakers will be once again on display in Kawerau. During the weekend of 21st & 22nd of January the Tarawera River will play host to the NZ selection and ranking races.

Top NZ kayakers Luuka Jones and Michael Dawson will be on display along with the best young talent New Zealand is developing for the sport. There will be International competitors who make there way to the Southern hemisphere and make use of the warmer climate in preparation for the future Championships held in Europe and prior to the 2012 Olympics in London.

This weekend will provide a compelling amount of spectator excitement as each paddler negotiates the twists and turns of the Tarawera River.

Come and check out the beautiful natural environment along the Tarawera River bank and watch these fine sports unfold. NZ #1 Mike Dawson

Kayak Training Camps

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 http://www.slalomnz.co.nz

2011/12 Training Camps