Olympic kayaker Mike Dawson training on his home canoe slalom course at Okere Falls in Rotorua. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
Olympic kayaker Mike Dawson training on his home canoe slalom course at Okere Falls in Rotorua. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services
Mike Dawson has pulled the curtain down on an extraordinary 15-year canoe slalom career but don't expect the two-time Olympian to hang up his paddle just yet. Jamie Troughton reports.
If Mike Dawson's retirement plans are anything to go by, it's no wonder he needs a break.
Next month, the canoe slalom champion gets married in Rotorua, to long-time girlfriend and Dutch kayak star Martina Wegman. In March, he's heading to Antarctica for a two-week paddling expedition, he'll support Wegman's Olympic bid in Europe later in the season and, he'll likely find some croc-infested jungle gorge to explore by year's end.
For the first time in 20 years, however - including the past 15 on the international stage - there'll be no sleek, carbon-fibre boat to nurse through airports around the globe. The 32-year-old also packed away his slalom paddle for good this month, retiring as one of New Zealand's greatest and most-influential minority athletes.
He boasts 11 world championships, two Olympic Games and countless World Cup appearances. Alongside the nine New Zealand titles, he's helped the sport become a semi-professional vocation complete with nutrition, performance plans and psychological support.
"I remember looking up to a few gnarly older dudes when I was young and the sport was developing in the early 2000s, when we were struggling for international results," Dawson said.
"Now there are young rippers everywhere, we're pushing it and performing on the world stage, we've got a high performance programme established and a lot of people are following the sport. We've got world-class coaches, an Olympic-standard course and a progressive, ambitious governing body."
Dawson's had some amazing moments. He finished 10th at the Rio Olympics, seventh at the 2017 world championships - where he also grabbed a bronze in extreme slalom - and was the fastest qualifier at the 2015 world champs in London.
But just as memorable was the way he fundraised for Rio by writing a cook book, then distributed the excess proceeds to street-kids in the Olympic host city. As was the moment his mum Kay, an internationally-ranked official, handed him a two-second penalty at the 2012 London Olympics, the way he subsidised his slalom career with cash prizes won in some of the world's most extreme river races and his chest-thumping joy, leaping into the Deodoro Olympic Park canal to celebrate compatriot Luuka Jones' historic silver medal in Rio.
"Luuka winning silver was an amazing moment because we both started at the same place, on the banks of the Wairoa River in Tauranga, and worked away for such a long time travelling to Europe to try to get better and better.
"Rio was so special - I was there because New Zealand got behind me and helped to support my campaign and there were so many positive vibes going on."
New Zealand canoe slalom star Mike Dawson on the Whataroa River on the South Island's West Coast. Photo / Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media
With a bit more luck, Dawson could've joined Jones at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing too but his disappointment in missing qualifying turned out to have its own silver lining.
He enlisted his dad Les as a fulltime coach and manager and leaned on his great friend (and soon to be best man), Czech kayak star Vavra Hradilek, for support. He began regularly making world cup semifinals and finals, comfortably qualifying for London.
"It was amazing to be working with Dad and delivering fast runs and good results throughout that season, then I got to share the Olympic experience with my folks and watch Vavra win an Olympic silver. That was pretty special - we'd trained so much together and he'd basically given me the Czech training plan and helped to get me up to that level."
It was at the London Olympics that Dawson texted then-High Performance Sport New Zealand boss Alex Baumann, asking for a meeting with him and Jones.
"We sat down and basically said that without some HPSNZ support, we couldn't compete. Up until that point, we had been running our campaigns solo, just trying to get to each race. HPSNZ saw the potential and started the ball rolling, while in the background, there was a whitewater park [Vector Wero] getting built in Manukau and Canoe Slalom New Zealand was undergoing huge changes."
Ironically, London was also the scene of one of his biggest laments, finishing 15th after a torrid semifinal.
"I wish I had had more faith in my ability to win races in 2012. I thought I needed to do something special but ended up risking it all and made a huge mistake despite being fast enough - but it was a huge learning curve and a whole lot of fun."
Since he announced his retirement on social media, tributes have been flooding in, including from pioneering Kiwi paddler Donald Johnstone telling Dawson he was integral to the growth of the sport while former Great Britain star and now New Zealand coach Campbell Walsh said he was delighted to have been part of Dawson's journey.
Dawson's retirement timing is deliberate; this weekend marks the start of the New Zealand selection events, with the Mangahao Open held in Manawatu, followed by next week's New Zealand Open at the Vector Wero Whitewater Park.
A healthy crop of youthful talent will try to create their own legacy, led by Alexandra's Finn Butcher, Tauranga's Callum Gilbert and Jack Dangen and Rotorua teenager Zack Mutton. All are ready to start challenging for their own Olympic spots.
"It's been really exciting to be part of canoe slalom over the past 20 years but it's also really exciting where it's going - this is just the start of what will be an amazing decade for the sport in New Zealand."
