Kayaking: young Sutton's rapid rise

The name Sutton has been added to the list of Wairoa Extreme kayaking champions - but even Jamie Sutton thought older brother Sam was going to be holding this year's title.
Instead, it was the 21-year-old younger sibling who grabbed New Zealand's most presigious extreme kayaking crown, taming the revamped course on the upper section of the Wairoa River on Sunday.
"I was gutted Sam couldn't be in the final because I haven't really had a good race against him yet but I'm pretty stoked with the win," Rotorua's Sutton said.
"Sam's a bit better than me and a lot more solid paddler but I've been trying to keep up with him and Kenny Mutton during training and they've been dragging me along. I guess it paid off today."
Sam Sutton won last year's Adidas Sickline world extreme title in Italy but he was knocked out of the semifinals by former winner Jared Meehan and Brendan Baily.
The new format featured a qualifying run, then four-boat "boater-cross" races down the "Mother's Nightmare" rapid just below Mclarens Falls.
Tauranga's Meehan looked the form paddler all day, despite only commiting to the race 24hrs earlier, but got bumped offline by Sutton in the final and had to settle for the minor placings.
The final featured the younger Sutton, Meehan, defending champion Bradley Lauder and Baily but by the time Sutton hit the top of the last rapid, he was in charge.
Race organiser Johann Roozenburg also looked solid - he cleaned up in the time-trial earlier in the day - but he too got bumped in the semifinal.
Roozenburg made the call to shift the race venue up from the iconic "Waterfall" and "Rollercoaster" rapids, allowing far better public access and decent vantage points and Sutton is now an easy convert.
"This course was actually great. I was worried that it wasn't going to be as good but it turned out to be awesome. There's a lot of risk involved in some of these moves - the slightest things can make the biggest differences - but the crowds were good and it was fun."
He's now heading back to Otago University to complete a geology degree but hopes to head to Europe to compete alongside his brother in June.
The women's race was again won by Auckland's Toni George, who now works as a photographer on the river for Kaitiaki rafting guides. Her boss heard that the race was on, so gave her the day off, but it was only in the last few seconds of the women's final that her intimate knowledge of the river paid off, after trailing Louise Urwin for most of the race.
"I chased her down and got her on the last drop," the 22-year-old said. "I got on her left-hand side and cut in front of her. I know the river well but the floods two weeks ago changed it."