New Zealand kayaking star Mike Dawson at the Australian Open. Photo/Sportscene
New Zealand kayaking star Mike Dawson at the Australian Open. Photo/Sportscene
Whitewater kayaking star Mike Dawson picked the perfect time to shine over the weekend, picking up one of the most important slalom wins of his illustrious career.
The 27-year-old from Tauranga, a semifinalist at the London Olympics, snatched the Australian Open K1 title with a brilliant final run at thePenrith Whitewater Stadium, consigning some of the world's top-ranked paddlers to minor placings. "It is cool to win the Aussie Open title after coming here for a lot of years and not winning it," Dawson said. "This race doubled as the New Zealand selection race so it was really important to make sure that I was in the top three so I get to race World Cup and World Champs."
Dawson was seventh in the national title format and trailed Australian favourite Lucien Dalfour by a massive 6.35 seconds after the Open semifinals but turned the tables dramatically with his second run though the 20-gate obstacle course. The seven-time New Zealand national champion clocked 90.95 seconds to take gold by a comfortable 1.23secs. Frenchman Pierre Bourliaud was second and his compatriot Etienne Daille took bronze after finishing 1.63sec down on Dawson. Daille, a multiple world cup-winner, currently tops the ICF world rankings, while Dalfour is in 12th. It was the only final Australia failed to reach the podium in.
The success of the Tauranga paddlers did not stop with Dawson. Double Olympian Luuka Jones (Tauranga), who was third in the national K1 women's final, narrowly missed a second bronze medal when she edged out by Australia's Rosalyn Lawrence. Reigning Olympic silver medallist Jessica Fox maintained her unbeaten record at the championships when she added the open crown to her national title.
She beat closest rival Sarah Grant by 1.09secs, Lawrence was 4.69secs behind the 19-year-old while Jones was a mere 0.15secs off third.
Tauranga paddlers Haylee Dangen and Anna Higgins also qualified for the final and placed 10th and 11th respectively.
Fox also cruised to victory in the C1 final by a whopping 9.92secs; Lawrence took silver while Dangen and fellow Kiwi Jane Nicholas drifted across the line in ninth and 11th.
There was also a fantastic performance from 16-year-old Tauranga schoolboy Patrick Washer, who topped all other New Zealand and Australian juniors and narrowly missed a spot in the open C1 final, finishing 12th.
Other Kiwis on the podium included Ben Gibb (Tauranga) and Marcus Norbury (Alexandra), who were second and third in the under-23 C1, while Tomasz McDowell (Nelson) and Callum Gilbert (Tauranga) showcased their improvements gained from the national performance programme by finishing first and second in the under-18 C1.
Earlier in the week, Tauranga's Jack Dangen (under-16) and Rotorua's Zach Mutton (under-14) also picked up Australian age group titles.
