Canoe slalom will be the 20^th sport added to the AIMS Games schedule – an announcement which has special significance for local athlete Claudia Paterson.

Claudia had never heard of canoe slalom four years ago when, as a 12-year-old, she signed up to compete at the annual intermediate aged competition in multi-sport – an event which involved running, mountain biking and kayaking.

Claudia Paterson in action. Photo: Glenys Travers.

'I'd never really kayaked before so Mum rang up Waimarino three weeks out from the event and asked if I could do three lessons, just so I could figure out how to paddle in a straight line.”

Claudia enjoyed the lessons so much, she asked if she could continue kayaking after AIMS. One of the coaches at Waimarino suggested she try canoe slalom – a fast-paced Olympic sport on whitewater where you have to pass between hanging metal ‘gates' without touching – and she has never looked back. Now 16, she is the second-fastest under-18 female in the country; earlier this year, she was selected to join the New Zealand canoe slalom junior team; and she came eighth at the European Junior Cup race in Poland in August. Last week, at the first Bay of Plenty club race for the season, she topped the K1 women's race despite being the youngest in the field.

'The AIMS Games are special to me because that's how I discovered the sport I'm so passionate about. It's great that canoe slalom is now being added to the Games because it will raise the profile of the sport and allow more kids to get into it.”

Local canoe slalom athletes have been taking their boats to Tauranga secondary and intermediate schools over the last fortnight, talking to the students about the sport at assemblies and drumming up interest – something which has not been difficult. Tauranga just happens to be the national ‘hub' for canoe slalom, with athletes from the region dominating the sport at national competitions, and both New Zealand's canoe slalom Olympians, Luuka Jones and Mike Dawson, started the sport through local school programmes.

At AIMS Games, canoe slalom will be run in a format similar to that used at the Youth Olympics, where the course is run on flat water with two athletes competing against each other simultaneously.

Claudia emphasises that children – or, more likely, their mums – should not be put off by photographs of kayakers on big white-water.

'It is a very gradual progression: you learn a lot of the skills on flat water – both in rivers and in swimming pools – before going onto slowly moving water. And no matter what your level, almost all of our weekly technique sessions are still on flat water.”

Claudia says even children who do not consider themselves ‘sporty' can end up excelling in canoe slalom. 'It's the kind of sport where it is just as important to be mentally agile: you have to memorise the course before a race, and you're always thinking one or two gates ahead of the one you are approaching. And it's amazing how people of very different body types can be good at it – there are both tall, skinny athletes and short, stocky ones doing well internationally.'

The Canoe Slalom BOP club is currently running introductory lessons for novices at Waimarino, with all gear provided. To sign up, contact Barbara on 022 070 0817 or go to www.canoeslalombop.co.nz