Bay of Plenty whitewater paddlers have produced a masterclass on the water, returning from the Canoe Slalom NZ Nationals with an abundance of titles.

At the end of the three-day national event, held on the Mangahao River in Manawatu, five Bay athletes were crowned national champions, joined by another three in the Under-18 division.

Luuka Jones at the Canoe Slalom NZ national championships on the Mangahao River in Manawatu. Photos: CSNZ/Ian Mercer.

As expected, Olympic kayakers Mike Dawson and Luuka Jones took out the senior K1 races, with Dawson landing his ninth national title and Jones her sixth.

Dawson made light work of the 10-strong men's field, finishing ahead of the Bay's Jack Dangen and Finn Butcher in the final.

It was much the same in the women's K1, with Jones well clear of fellow Bay teammates Jane Nicholas (second) and Kensa Randle (third). The top eight positions were all from the region.

Nicholas then went one better to take out the C1 women's division ahead of Kelly Travers and Jones, in a five-strong Bay of Plenty final.

Tauranga's Ben Gibb took out the C1 Men's title, finishing ahead of a trio of fellow Bay paddlers in Callum Gilbert, James Thwaite and Luke Robinson.
Jane Nicholas.

In the C2 men's grade, the Tauranga pairing of Dan Munro and Luke Robinson took out top spot.

Adding to the Bay's success was a trio of titles in the Under-18 division with the young paddlers taking on the likes of Dawson and Jones.

Tauranga's Jack Dangen took out the K1 men's division, Randle the K1 women's title and Thwaite the C1 men's.

The three-day event was held at the National Whitewater Centre of Excellence in Shannon, near Palmerston North.

Canoe Slalom is the exciting adrenalin fuelled sport, where paddlers negotiate their way down 300m white water rapids through a series of up to 25 gates, which are made up of red and green poles.

The challenge for paddlers is to race as fast as they can through the course of gates whilst battling waves, stoppers and eddies to accomplish the quickest time.

Paddlers are awarded time penalties of two seconds if they touch a gate and 50 seconds if they miss a gate altogether, which is added to their running time. The combined score of time and penalties determines the finish order.

Ben Gibb.

Mike Dawson.