Canoe Slalom: Oceania ruling ends pupil's Rio dream

Daniel Tuiraviravi, 17, represented Fiji in the K1 event at world champs in London this year, but his Olympics hopes are on hold. Photo / John Borren

Daniel Tuiraviravi's hopes of competing at next year's Rio Olympic Games for Fiji have been shattered by a decision to give the one Oceania spot to Cook Islands paddler Bryden Nicholas.

Tuiraviravi, 17, who is in Year 12 at Tauranga Boys' College, was set to face off against fellow Tauranga paddler Nicholas at the 2016 Oceania Canoeing Championships in Penrith in February for the available place in Rio.

But the Oceania committee decided last week to give the more experienced Nicholas, 26, the place in Rio, which means Tuiraviravi will have to wait four more years.

"I have carried on training hard, just in case he gets injured or anything happens to him. But I also want to beat him in the race in Penrith so maybe they might reconsider," Tuiraviravi said. "Anything is possible before the Olympics actually have started. My goals now lean towards junior worlds next year in Poland. I got through to the semifinals this year in Brazil so next year I am aiming to get a medal."

Tuiraviravi had a taste of the big time when he competed on the London Olympics course at this year's canoe slalom world championships. He admits it was a big learning curve competing against the world's best paddlers.

"It was quite hard. I was the youngest competitor and the others were much older than me and stronger, with more racing experience. But I felt I did really well considering it was the first time racing on the Olympic course. Unfortunately I didn't get through to the semifinals."

Tuiraviravi qualifies for Fiji through his father, who is from Fiji's Lau Islands. He heard about a talent identification programme from the International Canoe Slalom Federation, through Tauranga's Sue Clark. She asked him if he wanted to paddle for Fiji and with his parents' support, he decided to go for it.

He started canoe slalom when he joined the hugely successful programme at Tauranga Boys' College, run by Ross Burling.

"Initially I joined canoe slalom to get fitter for rugby but then I soon stopped playing rugby and got into doing slalom," Tuiraviravi said. "The competitive spirit at Boys' is pretty good. When we have races at secondary schools champs it is always competitive trying to get to the top and win."

The school's most famous paddler is a constant motivation for Tuiraviravi and the long line of promising paddlers in the Western Bay.

"Mike Dawson is someone I look up to and strive to try and get better than. He has been to the Olympics and I have met him at overseas events."