Many of you will have seen the Academy's billboard at Koutu Corner and it's now less than a week until sports' greatest show, the Olympic Games gets underway in London.
Waiariki's Olympians are now settled in the Olympic Village in the final throws of their preparation. Mike Dawson and Luuka
Jones are New Zealand's sole Canoe Slalom representatives with their competition starting just two days after the Opening Ceremony.
Mike's campaign starts on Sunday at 2.12pm (London time) with heats for the K1. Each athlete "runs" the course twice and the best of these two scores determines the 15 qualifiers for the semi-finals. Having qualified, the paddlers will then face a nervous three-day wait before the semis (1.30pm), and final (3.30pm) - to be held on Wednesday, August 1. During final's stages there will be no second chances with the paddlers running the course only once. The 10 best scores progress through to the final an hour later.
Luuka competes in the women's K1 event and will be subject to the same conditions and format as the men's K1. The women start one day later with their heats set to go 2.12pm on Monday, July 30. The semis will be on August 2 at 2.12pm, the final to run at 3.57pm.
Now that you have the times - this is your cue to set your recording devices and your alarm clocks, as I would like to think that all of Rotorua and the wider Bay are glued to their TVs in support.
