Olympics: We must be there for our Olympians

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.

Remember London is 12 hours behind New Zealand time.

I would also encourage you to send well-wishes to not only Mike and Luuka, but to the New Zealand team as a whole - having been lucky enough to have had an Olympic experience, it really does make a difference.

If you would like to pass on well-wishes to Mike and Luuka you can send messages of support to sport@waiariki.ac.nz - we will ensure these reach them. We would also encourage you to become a friend of the Academy of Sport Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/#!/WAOS.NZL where you can follow their progress and post messages of support.

Whaia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei (Seek the treasure you value most, if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain.).

Wayne Maher is the Waiariki Academy of Sport Manager.