ABOUT ME
My father grew up in the Cook Islands with his entire family in a single room house in Nikao. My grandparents, Marama and Tutai, prioritised education and hard work so him and his siblings could earn scholarships to go to boarding school in New Zealand and make a better life for themselves. Like they encouraged my father he encouraged me and taught me the same values. This drive for learning and striving for success was then instilled in me and enabled me to work hard to achieve in all areas of my life. While my father’s focus was largely on my schooling my mother would support me to seize every other opportunity I had. This included everything from ballet, jazz, piano, French lessons, speech and drama to pretty much every sport you can think of.
When I was at Intermediate my older brother Bryden had just started at college and he, following my mothers advice, decided to go to a meeting for the kayaking team. He saw videos of canoe slalom and the white water action and was hooked. My sister and I spent enough time on the riverbank that we decided we might as well jump in and give it a go. Having learnt to swim and snorkel in the Islands before I could walk I immediately felt comfortable on the water and added this to the list of things I required mum to take me to.
Canoe slalom soon became my main focus. I loved the white water, the adrenaline rush and knowing that no single run on any given slalom course would ever be exactly the same. At age 16 I made my first New Zealand Team. Being a part of this team I travelled to Europe for the first time and got my first taste of the world circuit. The competition was high level and I was not yet on the same playing field. However the experience gained over this time was invaluable and fuelled my passion for the sport and my desire to succeed at a high level internationally. Over the next 10 years I continued to train and compete for New Zealand while balancing medical school and then full time work as a Doctor.
Towards the end of 2018 I decided to instead represent the Cook Islands. While I had to leave my coach, training partners and the support system in NZ it is a decision I am entirely happy with and am certain will never regret. I have to thank canoe slalom New Zealand as they had supported me all of those years to get where I was as an athlete and also supported me to compete for the cooks.
While I love my job as a doctor training around it takes serious motivation and dedication. At the end of May I took leave from work to travel to Europe in an aim to qualify for the games. Being away from work and living as a full time athlete I could focus purely on training and put 100% of my energy into my sport. I raced 4 World cups in London, Slovakia, Slovenia and Prague in the build up to world champs in Spain. The world champs doubled as my Olympic qualification race and having based myself at the venue between world cups and employing a Spanish coach I put myself in the best possible position to perform. I developed all aspects of my sport and competition including strength, fitness, technique, and psychology. September soon rolled around and it was time to put the training to the test. I put down one of the best race runs of my sporting career and am very proud to say I raced well enough to qualify a spot at the 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo.
I am very proud to have qualified this spot for the Cook Islands however the work has only just begun. I have decided not to return to work to give myself the best preparation. I am based in Auckland training on the artificial course in Manukau as it is most similar to the course in Tokyo. I am looking forward to everything that lies ahead of me and hope to do the cooks and myself proud.