Whanganui teen Angus Sewell at world canoe sprint in Bulgaria

Whanganui's Angus Sewell (front) during a K2 event.

Whanganui teenager Angus Sewell is in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, competing in the world junior U18 canoe sprint racing regatta. He has spent the past two weeks training in 35C heat with the rest of the New Zealand team to allow acclimatise.

Racing commences on Wednesday, July 17, through to Sunday, July 21, with Sewell competing in the K4 events and the K1 5km relay event, which is the final event of the regatta.

This has been the realisation of a long-term goal of the Whanganui paddler, who started aged 8 with the Whanganui Multisport Club under coach Brian Scott.

“Sewell has always loved the sport,” said his father, Rob. “He has managed to stay in the top of his age group throughout his 10 years of paddling,” he said.

Over the years Sewell has achieved many podium results and national titles. He has also represented New Zealand at the Asia Pacific Cup in Japan, New Zealand and Australia. He has gained several international titles in the cup.

He has dreams of following fellow Whanganui paddler Max Brown and achieving Olympic-level competition.

During the summer, Sewell spent several months training on the Gold Coast with a fellow North Shore paddler to gain more experience. They were fortunate to train alongside Lisa Carrington for two weeks while the world champion girls were there.

“This was an incredible opportunity which Angus absolutely loved,” Rob said.

Sewell is looking forward to the world-stage competition and then a few months off because the preparation leading up to Bulgaria has been relentless.