Tauranga's young paddlers in top form

PRECISION PERSONIFIED: Tauranga's Patrick Washer, 16, finished five seconds ahead of C1 top seed Ben Gibb thanks to his sound technique and composure. 010414BG1BOP

The Canoe Slalom New Zealand Nationals have sent out a warning to the country's more established paddlers: Tauranga's youth paddling movement is coming.

The event, held over the weekend on the Hawea River near Wanaka and incorporating the man-made play wave designed by American Scott Shipley, served up some surprises in the absence of Tauranga's two Olympians, Mike Dawson and Luuka Jones.

The first was the ascension of 16-year-old Tauranga paddler Patrick Washer, who pipped top seed Ben Gibb to win the C1 title.

The favoured Gibb, who had dominated the qualifiers and semifinal, made a fatal mistake at gate 13 and was unable to make up the lost time.

Washer's efforts were enough to claim the national junior title, with New Zealand teammates Tommy McDowell from Nelson and James Thwaite of Tauranga claiming the minor placings. Washer was thrilled with his win two weeks out from the Junior World Championships in Penrith, Sydney.

It was the same story in the K1W, in which top seed Ella Nicholas was favoured to dominate. Small errors again proved crucial, with the physical paddling of Tauranga 18-year-old Haylee Dangen good enough to claim both the K1W and C1W crowns.

Tauranga's Nicholas siblings Ella and Jane were second and third respectively in K1, with Ella also second in the C1W by just 1s.

Under-23 paddler Jane Nicholas was beaten by the surge at gate 17 and could not add the national C1 title to her 2014 top ranking, finishing third in her age group and fourth overall.

In the junior women's kayak class, Kaydi O'Connor Stratton (Mt Maunganui) took the under-18 title ahead of Suzy Cumming (Tauranga) and Kate Pascoe (Alexandra). The fastest junior female was Kensa Randle winning the under-16 age group ahead of Tauranga's Claudia Patterson, while Maddie Wilson, also of Tauranga, won the under-14 girls K1.

Another Tauranga paddler, Callum Gilbert, confirmed his top seeding by winning the junior K1 men's event in finishing second overall to Otago's Finn Butcher.

Theo Pepper was third in the juniors, while 16-year-old Jack Dangen cleaned up both the under-16 K1 and C1 titles.

Another local paddler, Daniel Tuiraviravi finished second in the under-16 K1.

Tauranga crew Dan Munro and Luke Robinson overcame a poor showing in the C2 semifinal to claim both the junior and senior national titles.

It was the first time the nationals had followed the international format with a two-run qualification, semifinals and top 10 finals in each class.