Gabi Lolohea and Joseph Dunn may be the fresh new faces of whitewater kayaking in New Zealand; the first glimpse of a Polynesian paddling dynasty.

When the pair join nearly 50 other intermediate-aged canoe slalom paddlers at next month's Anchor AIMS Games in Tauranga, they'll have one distinct advantage over their rivals.

Lolohea, Dunn and other members of the Tamaki Paddle Sports Club get to train regularly on Manukau's world-class Vector Wero Whitewater Park.

Lolohea, from the same Tongan lineage as former Warriors playmaker Tuimoala Lolohea, is so smitten with her new sport she's roping in classmates at St John the Evangelist Catholic School in Otara to train with her.

'Our school is a strong Pacific Island school, and most of the girls are in different sports which didn't have enough numbers to go to AIMS,” the 12-year-old explains. 'I introduced canoe slalom to my school and we went to a give-it-a-go day and the girls absolutely loved it.”

Becoming fully immersed in the sport means getting to know some of the famous faces.

'I've seen Luuka Jones paddle a couple of times and she's just amazing and someone I really look up to. Canoe slalom didn't really matter a lot in 2016 when Luuka won her Olympic silver medal but whenever something comes up about her or the sport now, I'm really interested!”

Dunn, who turns 13 in October, also has some strong league pedigree; Canberra Raiders and Kiwis league player Jordan Rapana is a second cousin. The Redoubt North School student only started canoe slalom earlier this year when one of his teachers tipped him off about AIMS Games and a free day sponsored by Vector Wero and the Second Nature Charitable Trust.

Since then he's been working with coach Brogan Gordon and completing his Paddle Passport, an introduction to the sport formulated by Canoe Slalom New Zealand.

'I do a lot of other sports like football, cross country and athletics but as soon as I tried canoe slalom, I really enjoyed it and knew AIMS Games was going to be a target,” Dunn says. 'I've never been to AIMS Games so I just want to give it a go and do my best.”

Gordon has watched first-hand as his squad of young tyros embraced their new sport.

"The kids have come a long way – working hard over winter, powering through the cold, fighting the elements and improving a lot.

'They all have a very good base skill-set now at a very young age and they can go on to do whatever they choose in the world of kayaking. I've really enjoyed coaching them this year."

The AIMS Games will feature 10,800 intermediate-aged athletes across 22 different sports. While Redoubt School has sent teams in the past, Lolohea is creating a little bit of history for St Johns Otara, as the first athlete to attend the annual tournament in Tauranga.

'My brother plays soccer and we've both drifted off the path of rugby but our family is so supportive. It doesn't matter what we want to play or who we want to be, they're 100 per cent backing us up.”

And after stints in waka ama and flat-water kayaking, she knows she's found her first love.

'I like the rush of water that comes at me. That's the best thing ever ¬– to know you've conquered something and there's bigger and bigger white water out there to tackle. You just feel so proud afterwards.”

The AIMS Games runs from September 9-14.