Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Sport

Canoeing: Paddlers in top form for world champs

Bay of Plenty Times
12 Sep, 2013 06:02 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Ben Gibb, Tauranga canoeist, takes on the world's best in Troja, the Czech Republic, this week.

Ben Gibb, Tauranga canoeist, takes on the world's best in Troja, the Czech Republic, this week.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Three Tauranga paddlers will line up at the world canoe slalom championships starting today in the Czech Republic.

Olympians Luuka Jones and Mike Dawson are joined by young C1 (canoe) tyro Ben Gibb at the championships at the Prague Canoeing Centre in Troja.

K1 specialist Jones is coming off her best world cup result - a 13th-placing in the latest round in Slovenia - and has used Prague as her European training base this year.

"The most recent world cups were good for me and I found a comfortable way to race and had a good mindset," Jones said.

"I really just want to replicate that composure this week and not to get caught up in the hype and temptation to try and paddle too fast, which can lead to penalties and mistakes. If I can have a race I am proud of then I'll be happy."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Jones has focused largely on technique this year, with High Performance Sport New Zealand funding Britain's Campbell Walsh to coach her through the season.

"It took a while to get used to a different way of paddling and my season started off pretty slow, with some shaky performances at the first world cups, which definitely threw me. I'm feeling pretty confident now, though, and looking forward to a big week."

Dawson has also been in good form and won last week's Devil's Extreme race on the Moldau River in the Czech Republic. He sits 22nd in the world cup rankings and is hungry for a good performance this week.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I've had some consistent results this year, which is surprising given that I've spent the last nine months coming back from injury," Dawson said. "I feel like I'm getting some decent fitness and competition behind me now and I'm really looking forward to testing it against the best in the world."

Gibb has also used Prague as a base for the last five months and is hoping that will count in his C1. "I've been trying to learn every square metre of the course to give myself the best possible chance of racing well," he said.

The 21-year-old made the semifinals of a world cup last year and knows what he has to do to get back to that level.

"Just some small mistakes have been stopping me from making semifinals in Tacen and Bratislava this year but I've spent the last few weeks trying to fine-tune those errors out," Gibb said.

Discover more

Canoeing: Top paddlers preparing for Worlds

12 Sep 06:00 PM
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Premium
Sport

From Twickenham flashpoint to 'hit job' claims: The untold story and details of Scott Robertson's All Blacks exit

09 May 05:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

Sititi, Taukei'aho doubles lift Chiefs over Reds

08 May 11:27 AM
Sport

Medical advice sees Carrington withdraw from World Cup regatta

08 May 04:35 AM

Sponsored

Voting choice for Māori

11 May 01:52 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Premium
Premium
From Twickenham flashpoint to 'hit job' claims: The untold story and details of Scott Robertson's All Blacks exit
Sport

From Twickenham flashpoint to 'hit job' claims: The untold story and details of Scott Robertson's All Blacks exit

'F*** it': Coaching box and comms, politics and players – why Razor's dream fell apart.

09 May 05:00 PM
Sititi, Taukei'aho doubles lift Chiefs over Reds
Bay of Plenty Times

Sititi, Taukei'aho doubles lift Chiefs over Reds

08 May 11:27 AM
Medical advice sees Carrington withdraw from World Cup regatta
Sport

Medical advice sees Carrington withdraw from World Cup regatta

08 May 04:35 AM


Voting choice for Māori
Sponsored

Voting choice for Māori

11 May 01:52 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • NZME Digital Performance Marketing
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2026 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP