Rotorua Daily Post
26 June 2009Kayaker hopes to tie down better result
Craig Tiriana | 15th June 2009
MAKING A SPLASH: New Zealand’s top whitewater Slalom kayaker Aaron Osborne is aiming for a top-10 spot at the world championships in September. STEPHEN PARKER
KAYAKING
If Aaron Osborne can get himself and his kayak to the Whitewater Slalom World Championships in one piece later this year, it’ll go a long way to getting the Kiwi No 1 closer to an Olympic berth.
The Rotorua-based schoolteacher left for Europe yesterday on a “building year” campaign which will see him race three world cups on the way to the world championships in Spain.
The first World Cup is in France in a fortnight with the next two in Slovakia and Germany.
While the 23-year-old believes he’s now mentally better equipped to paddle among the world’s best, he doesn’t want a repeat of his effort in 2007 which involved some less than useful tie-downs, the roof of a car and four airborne kayaks.
“I never, ever saw my boat again. There were four boats on the roof, three of them we found parts of,” recalled Osborne, who was a relief teacher at Western Heights High School for the last seven weeks.
Without his own kayak, Osborne ended up competing in a borrowed “sinking tub” for his championship run, in which he finished 30th – his and New Zealand’s best senior result for some time.
“It wasn’t even worth paddling. I should have gone on holiday. I’m hoping that won’t happen again.
We’ll put an extra tie on [the kayaks],” joked Osborne.After a solid season during the New Zealand summer, Osborne wants some definite improvements in international performance – and luck – during the next few years.
During his 2007 campaign Osborne and fellow Kiwi paddler Mike Dawson showed potential with some top-10 runs during qualifying events. That experience gave Osborne confidence despite still suffering the tail end of rehabilitation for a prolapsed disc in his back.
“I want to try and make it into the top-10 consistently over [this] year and next year,” Osborne said following a final pre-trip paddle at Okere Falls.
“It’s a bit of a building year for us in a way. Go to the world cups and see what needs to be done … get it right for next year and even that will be to make sure everything is all right with 2011 a [Olympic ] qualifying year.”
“Last year I had my back injury, this is kind of a go and see. “The first world cup is in two weeks. They’re going to be a gauge of where I am and what I’m going to have to do for the worlds.”
Osborne will be seeking a top-10 place at the worlds in September.
“There’s not much difference between me and say fifth place, it’s just being able to do it on the day. I know that I can do it. I’ve got four races and hopefully in one, or all four, I’ll have a perfect day.”
The trip is self-funded and Osborne will travel with fellow Waiariki Institute of Technology sports academy member, 2008 Olympian Lucca Jones.
Osborne has saved some $9000 for the European stint but admits he’s a fair bit short of the $15,000 he estimates it will cost.
Osborne said the budget would allow for decent accommodation and good food during the events but it might be a bit different in between.
“It’ll just effect how we live. We’ll have to do a bit of camping,” he said.
Coach amazed as Osborne qualifies
KATARINA WILLIAMS | 21st September 2007
That is how Rotorua coach Andy Fuller felt when he watched one of his athletes qualify for the semifinals of the Canoe/Kayak Slalom World Championships on the internet.
After the first and second rounds, Rotorua’s Aaron Osborne holds 27th position in the 86-strong K1 field racing on the Itaipu Whitewater Canal in Brazil’s Foz do Iguassu.
Tauranga athlete Michael Dawson was good enough for 16th spot, while fellow New Zealander Johaan Roozenburg – also coached by Fuller – finished up in 60th place, missing the all-important top 40 qualification for the semifinals.
Having been involved in Osborne’s coaching on and off for the past five years, Fuller was ecstatic with his athlete’s performance given Osborne’s less than favourable buildup.
“Aaron has actually been injured for the past three months, which makes what he’s done even more remarkable.
“He injured his pectoral muscle, so he found he could hardly turn right,” Fuller explained.
The injury, sustained while racing in Europe, meant Osborne was only able to paddle in a straight line, posing a huge problem given the kinds of rapids he has to negotiate during competition.
It is only over the past two weeks that Osborne has started to regain full movement in his trunk area.
“When we were talking on the computer [via the internet], we were pretty much joking that he was totally screwed.
“We were just making a joke out of it, because we felt there wasn’t much else we could do,” Fuller said.
While it was touch-and-go as to how Osborne would fare at the world championships, his performance thus far has more than impressed Fuller, himself a competitor in the 1997 world championships.
“Both of them [Osborne and Dawson] have proved that with one really good race, they can qualify for the Olympics.
“As long as one of them finishes in the top 30, they should make it,” Fuller added.
* The K1 World Championship event will be held in Brazil tomorrow (NZT).
Johaan zig zags toward Olympics
KATARINA WILLIAMS | 18th September 2007
Johaan Roozenburg zig zags through the slalom in Brazil.
Andy Fuller, who has been Roozenburg’s New Zealand-based coach for the past five years, believes his athlete must focus on racing error-free if he is to achieve his aim of making the semifinals.
“Johaan is well inside the top 40 in the world. We would be extremely disappointed if he didn’t make the semifinals. We are hoping that he competes well so he can break the top 25. The top 20 would be even better,” Fuller said. “If he has a perfect race, he would be inside the top 20.”
At the world championships, each competitor gets two runs before the field is culled for semi-finals involving the top 40 athletes based on points. After completing another run on a new course, the top 10 athletes progress to the world championship final.
The event – held on the Parana River in the city of Foz do Iguacu – doubles as an Olympic qualifier. In canoe slalom, only one competitor from each country will gain an elusive qualifying berth to next year’s event in Beijing. Roozenburg will need to fight off spirited competition from fellow New Zealanders Michael Dawson from Tauranga and Aaron Osborne, who splits his time between Rotorua and Palmerston North.
“The Olympics is the big thing.
While the quest for a coveted Olympic berth remains the ultimate for the New Zealanders, Fuller remains philosophical about how the trio are likely to fare in the world championship wash-up.
“I don’t believe any of the guys are capable of making the top 10. I would prefer to see them race a little bit more conservatively and coming 15th or 20th which would be their best result ever,” Fuller explained.
Kayakers gearing up for nationals in Queenstown
KATIE FARMAN | 20th March 2007
The signs are looking good for Bay of Plenty paddlers as they gear up for the National Kayaking Championships in Queenstown.
Several local paddlers turned in dominating performances during the weekend’s North Island White Water Slalom Championships on the Tarawera River, near Kawerau, lifting their chances for more success down south next month.
A recent move from Auckland to Rotorua paid dividends for Johann Roozenburg, who won the men’s K1 title in a combined time of 207.82 (following two river runs) while Tauranga’s Mike Dawson was second in 209.42. Former Rotorua paddler Aaron Osborne, now based in Palmerston North, was third while fourth fastest overall but winner of the masters men’s division was Andy Fuller in a time of 222:49.
Former Nelson-based paddler Tania Perrett, now based at Lake Rotoiti, won the women’s K1 event in 255.1 while Tauranga’s Luka Jones was runner-up five seconds later. Meanwhile, in the junior men’s event Eric Gurden from Tauranga enjoyed a convincing win over Rotorua’s Cameron Osborne and Nicole Rockcliffe won the women’s title.
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