Issue 17 • June 2012 - Waiariki Institute of Technology

London calling for Waiariki Olympians
Luuka Jones
A mixture of talent, professional training, hard work, competitions and keeping a sense of humour have provided the winning combination for Waiariki’s Olympics team Luuka
Jones, Mike Dawson and Jane Borren.
The Olympics is the pinnacle of sport,
whether you’re an athlete or, in Jane Borren’s
case, right on the edge of the competition.
For the London Games 2012, Ms Borren
will be water-side as Waiariki Academy
of Sport athletes Luuka Jones and Mike
Dawson pit their paddles against the best in
the world.
“It is exciting being among the New
Zealand team build-up and knowing I’m
part of a huge world event that every athlete
is peaking for, one that captivates most
nations,” Ms Borren says from Brisbane just
before leaving for Europe for two World
Cup events with the canoe slalom team.
She is currently a contracted high
performance consultant to Waiariki
Academy of Sport and has responsibility
with the New Zealand Canoe Slalom
Olympic Campaign around funding,
logistics and performance. It will be her first
official Olympics gig.
She has been involved with Luuka and
Mike for four years, having established the
Academy of Sport at Waiariki’s Mokoia
Campus in Rotorua in 2007.
“I oversee and input to most areas of their
campaigns,” explains Ms Borren.
“I know them both pretty well, perhaps inside
and out, as people and as athletes – what
makes them tick, how to get them into the best
possible frame of mind for best performance.
“They’re great mates, we have a great team,
but they are different characters.”
Part of Ms Borren’s role is to take the worry
away from the athletes, tend to the logistics
of getting the pair and their boats in the right
condition at the right time and place, allowing
them to focus on training and recovery.
Priority training to rebuild a city and maintain a nation
You can’t rebuild a city or maintain a
country without qualified trades people.
And as part of New Zealand government’s
focus on repelling the trades skills shortage
and rebuilding Christchurch, Waiariki
has taken on the challenge of providing
the ongoing skilled workforce to meet the
growing needs of New Zealand.
Waiariki’s director of the School of Trade
Training, Kevin Uncles, is leading a charge
to find approximately 220 to 250 additional
trade trainees for the second semester which
starts mid-July.
It has been reported that New Zealand will
need 17,000 additional builders by 2014 as
well as more plasterers, painters, brick and
block layers, roofers, plumbers and drain layers
plus the support for these trades people.
“This will tend to spread out the boom and
busts [highs and lows] of building … If
we’ve got this [need] it’s going to be a nice
steady curve for the next 20 years or so:
builders can’t plan when they’re busy one
year and have nothing the next,” says
Mr Uncles.
“…we’re sitting here in
the middle of one of
the best forest areas in
the country so we’ve
got the resources we
can contribute.”
“The trades are those identified by the
Tertiary Education Commission, NZQA
[New Zealand Qualifications Authority]
and the government as priority trades for
assisting Christchurch. They know that
everyone won’t go to Christchurch but
they anticipate that these [trainees] will
fill the void created by those who do go
to Christchurch.”
“Keeping things as simple as possible for
them, making sure they stick to their plans
and being quickly reactive when things go
off course,” is how she describes her role.
She also looks after Luuka’s training
prescriptions as “part coach” while it’s a
more of a support/checking role with Mike.
This will be Luuka’s second Olympics and
Mike’s first.
There are high hopes for the Kiwis although
the Europeans tend to dominate on the
rapids at this level.
Ms Borren knows what her athletes are
capable of accomplishing.
“Two medals would be awesome – got
to gun for the best,” she says before
adding clarification.
“The reality is they qualified at worlds last
Mr Uncles believes there are huge
opportunities for this region.
“The Christchurch rebuild will use tonnes
and tonnes of wood and we’re sitting here
in the middle of one of the best forest areas
in the country so we’ve got the resources we
can contribute. It would be absolutely crazy
to buy sawn timber back from China.”
As well as the normal Semester 2
placements at Waiariki, the institute is
partnering with iwi groups in areas like
Taumarunui and Opotiki to provide the
opportunity for their people to train in the
priority trades which includes electrical,
engineering, fabrication, interior design,
horticulture and turf management.
Training for priority trades will take place
outside the Waiariki rohe, as well, and
additional tutors would be employed to
deliver the training where and when required.
Mike Dawson
Jane Borren Lou Jull (fellow academy athlete), Jane Borren, Luuka Jones and Mike Dawson Mike Dawson
year in 11th and 14th spots. The Olympics
finals are top 10 and that would be fantastic,
but the opposition is classy and tight.
“If they both paddle to the best they can be,
they are capable of jumping up those spots
to the final 10 and then it is game on in one
run down that Olympics course.”
The Olympics open on July 27 (London
time) and two days later Luuka and Mike
will paddle for their lives among 175
athletes representing 30 nations at the Lee
Valley White Water Centre.
Ms Borren will be there to help them and
cheer them on, “driving their butts off and
supporting them to be the best they can be.”
This sounds like a successful formula for
all involved.
Kevin Uncles, director, School of Trade
Training.
0800 924 274 Waiariki Today |
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