River rats get in another wave of training

Battling it out on the salty sea waves might just give a kayaking trio the winning edge on the raging white water rapids of North America.

Rotorua's Sam Sutton and Nik Boyes and Tauranga's Sean Gerlach are headed for the World Freestyle Kayaking Championships in Canada and the US next Monday, where they will take on the best in the junior men's division.

The Bay teenagers have been preparing over winter for the six-week trip, braving chilly waters at Mt Maunganui and Raglan in a bid to boost their chances of a top finish.

And it's the big waves they've been chasing.

When 3m waves have rolled in, the paddlers have been there to catch them.

Sutton, a Western Heights High School student, reckoned that the ocean waves were similar in size to those they could expect during the world event.

"The river waves have a lot more power, but the sea waves have been great to practise on. We get up speed going down the face of the wave and the kayak starts jumping and we can do our tricks."

Freestyle kayaking is similar to freestyle skiing, where competitors perform tricks using the power of a stationary wave to manoeuvre themselves.

Freestyle includes a number of aerial moves, with paddlers propelling themselves into the air and rotating their kayaks.

Competitors score points for variety and degree of difficulty. There is no room for error.

A paddler is given 45 seconds for each run to perform.

It comes down to less than a couple of minutes of frantic action in a turmoil of white water.

So the trio will be hoping they are in form when they compete over three weekends of the tour.

The paddlers will spend the first two weeks of their tour honing their skills in Ottawa, where the first round will be held. They will then cross the border into New York State, before heading to Tennessee.

To keep trip costs down, the three kayakers won't be staying in five-star motels, but nor will they be dossing in backpackers.

Instead, they will be roughing it in tents - one each, they are quick to explain.

All three are studying for NCEA scholarship exams. Gerlach is taking chemistry, physics and calculus textbooks with him as he is hoping to study during tour down times.

"I'm also going to work on creating a kayaking logo for my graphics project," Gerlach, a student at Bethlehem College, said.

Boyes, who says the trip is the chance of a lifetime, aims to "go hard", have a good time and meet lots of people. The trip could be a stepping stone for him to turn his sport into a profession and eventually paddle for money.

"It's going to be awesome and a learning experience."

Each paddler has had to front with $6500 for the trip. Sausage sizzles, along with money from Western Heights High School, the Rotorua Trust, and generous offers from Bill Davis Sports, Kathmandu and Bliss Stick Kayaks has made the adventure possible.

Other members of the New Zealand team already in Canada are Rotorua's Louise Urwin and Lawrence Simpson.