Riding the rapids to success

Living in Ōkere Falls, with the internationally popular whitewater hub Kaituna River on her doorstep, River has always been surrounded by inspiring paddlers, including her father.

“My dad’s a really good kayaker, which got me started, and as a kid I wanted to grow up to be just like the local and international girls paddling on the Kaituna.”

Although she also had a passion for ski racing growing up, River had to make the difficult choice to miss a ski season at 16 to compete in Italy at the Canoe Slalom Junior World Championships – her first big overseas kayak event which solidified kayaking as her number one priority.

Following her bronze medal win in Italy, River has enjoyed numerous career highlights, including placing second in the senior women’s category at the Extreme Kayak World Championships in 2022, achieving the same position at the 2023 World Championships, and winning the 2023 Ekstremsportveko Whitewater Grand Prix in Norway, where her time placed her seventh overall in the men’s class – all leading up to her major win this year.

Reflecting on her career, River says there’s a lot to enjoy about kayaking.

“If I had to choose, it would be the community and the lifestyle. I’ve made so many strong friendships all over the world and got to hang out in some amazing places.”

Winning the 2024 Extreme Whitewater World Championships has been a childhood dream come true for River, particularly when her second-place finish behind one of her sporting idols made the dream feel more in reach. With her focused intensified, River enrolled in summer school at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University for the start of the New Zealand season and spent the summer training on her home river. After an injury kept her from selection for the national canoe slalom team, she dedicated herself fully to training for the Championship.

“I had a big expedition lined up to try and access a first-descent river in the South Island with some friends, which meant I did a lot of training to carry and paddle a heavily-loaded whitewater kayak over long distances. After that, I returned to regular training before heading to Norway for a two-month lead-up to the event. I ended up balancing work, study and paddling, which made me feel I hadn’t paddled enough leading up to the race. However, the nice thing about Norway is that it doesn’t get dark at that time of year, so I spent a lot of early mornings and late nights paddling around my work hours.”

River says the event was invaluable for boosting her confidence in her abilities.

“I realised that regardless of whether I was able to prepare as I wanted, I should forget about what could have gone better and believe in myself in the present moment. I also feel more confident in setting realistic goals and getting the pace right with study and other commitments in the future. It was a great event, held at Ekstremsportveko this year, which is an extreme sports festival, so I met some really interesting people doing cool things in all kinds of sports.”

The 22-year-old hopes to intertwine her kayaking career with her Bachelor of Communication, envisioning a future of making documentaries, taking photos and writing stories throughout her travels.

“I was inspired to study communications and major in journalism to learn a broad range of communication skills and media knowledge. My journalism major narrows the degree down to storytelling, its ethical considerations and research and interview skills.”

River chose to study with Massey after hearing about the quality of the distance programme.

“Studying by distance is essential for me, so I’m stoked that Massey offers such high-quality distance learning. It was easier to fit into my life than I expected. Sometimes it can be challenging to stay on top of the workload with travel and kayaking, and there are times I can’t do all the social things people around me are doing. I’ve accepted that it may take longer to do my degree than originally planned, but I’m grateful I can pursue cool opportunities in my life when they appear.”

River says the Academy of Sport programme provides her with the security she needs to balance her sport and study.

“Knowing I can reach out for help if my study and sport commitments clash is a huge relief. They also provide funding opportunities and reach out when there are scholarships that might interest me, which is so helpful because every cent counts to get to events and continue my studies.”

Looking ahead, River hopes to defend her title at next year’s World Championships and has already started training with that goal in mind.

“While my focus is on whitewater right now, I’ll continue to train in slalom in the background and aim to race in our national team selections starting in January. I’m taking a break from study over the summer semester, but I’m looking forward to the free time to work on making some fun films and planning some documentaries!”