Kayaking: School team's rapids rise continues

Alex Hawthorne will lead a strong Tauranga Boys' College team to the NZ Secondary Schools White Water Championships in Fiordland. Photo / Thinkstock

You can bet Andrew Hawthorne, father of Tauranga Boys' College kayaking team captain Alex, sometimes wishes his son continued with swimming and water polo.

This week he packed up a specially framed-up truck with 87 kayaks, a freezer full of home baking, and various bags of gear ready for the 3230km round trip to the bottom of the South Island and back - a far cry from packing speedos and googles for a swim meet.

A team of 27 boys from Tauranga Boys' and 10 other students from Tauranga Girls', Bethlehem and Mount Colleges will compete for individual and team medals over four days at next week's NZ Secondary Schools White Water Championships to be held at Monowai in Fiordland.

History is certainly on their side. The Tauranga Boys' team has won the school trophy in 14 of the last 17 years.

Leader Alex Hawthorne, 17, made the New Zealand junior team in his preferred class of K1 and is one of the favourites for the overall top paddler trophy, which combines kayak, canoe slalom and down river racing. His Tauranga Boys' and national teammates, Patrick Washer and Theo Pepper, will be his main competition, although a strong challenge is expected from hosts Dunstan High School. Another Tauranga Boys' paddler, Jack Dangen, 15, is favourite for the equivalent under-16 trophy.

This unprecedented success is driven by teacher Rob Sperling, who had a vision for a kayaking programme in 1995 when he was a raft guide on the Wairoa River. He hardly saw any young people on the white water so enlisted the help of Barbara and Barry Anderson at Waimarino.

The first year they came last at the championships but with Sperling's drive, passion and competitive nature, he soon rectified that and the rest is history. He works closely with Canoe Slalom BOP's coaching programme that gives youngsters paddling skills.

The formula is working as Tauranga Boys' has been the breeding ground of so many of New Zealand's top canoe slalom athletes, including 2012 Olympian Mike Dawson. This year 12 of the 15 men's representative spots across the age groups are filled by former Tauranga Boys' athletes.