Tauranga paddlers Mike Dawson (kayak single, K1), Luuka Jones (K1W) and Ben Gibb (canoe single, C1) were the individual stars as they won their respective classes on both days in the race for senior selection for the 2015 New Zealand canoe slalom team.
The first two races of four in the series were held on the Tarawera River in Kawerau over the weekend in what Dawson says is the first step in the process for qualifying for the Rio Olympics.
"These races were a good opportunity for me to test the training from the off season," he said. "I had two days of really good racing. I managed to stay ahead of the all the young fellas nipping at my heals and not only get good points for my team selection but also get a pretty good understanding of where I am at."
Dawson, who competed along with Tauranga's Luuka Jones at the 2012 London Olympics, was impressed with the quality of the courses in Kawerau.
"The race courses that were set were really testing and you could see that from a lot of the runs had penalties. I was lucky to have two clear runs but as an athlete I always like to see good hard courses to test us. It was also cool to see all the top athletes from around the Bay of Plenty region out in force and there are a lot coming through. I am pretty interested to see how they go in the future."
