Young Whanganui kayakers come home from Japan regatta with bronze medals

Whanganui Kayakers Zane Mills-Nossiter (second from right) and Angus Sewell (second from left) both won bronze medals as part of the New Zealand team at the Asia Pacific Sprint Cup. Photo / Supplied

Two young Whanganui kayakers came home from the recent Asia Pacific Sprint Cup in Japan with bronze medals.

Angus Sewell and Zane Mills-Nossiter were selected for the New Zealand under-18 squad for the cup after their results at the New Zealand national championships earlier in the year.

They flew to Lake Kiba in Komatsu, Japan, to compete against other young paddlers from Australia, Japan and the Pacific.

Whanganui Kayak Club coach Brian Scott said the boys teamed up with paddlers from around the country to race in team boats and relays, and Sewell was also selected to race in a single boat over the 1000m distance.

Throughout the cup, Sewell won two bronze medals, one as part of the K4 500m team, and another with Mills-Nossiter in the 4x200m team.

Scott said both boys were stoked to come away from their first international regatta with medals because they were the younger athletes in their age group, with Sewell being an under-16 paddler and Mills-Nossiter having one more year left as an under-18 paddler.

They both were up against older and more-experienced athletes, but showed gutsy performances to come away with the medals.

Scott also highlighted their performances with their teammates in the K2 500 finals, with Mills-Nossiter and Sewell's teams coming in fourth and fifth respectively.

The race between the two Kiwi boats came down to the wire, and Scott said they were also both close to scoring a podium finish against bigger and more-experienced teams, particularly against the Australians.

Another challenge for the two was having to quickly get used to a change in weather and equipment in Japan.

"They did not have a lot of time to acclimatise to the Japanese summer, the hired boats, the feel of the water or the Japanese cuisine, but they took it all in their stride and enjoyed the cultural experience as well as the racing," Scott said.

He said while the focus of the week was on competition, the boys also enjoyed meeting the other teams and formed a particularly strong camaraderie with the Australian team.