Rotorua pair picked for 2012 Olympics | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

Rotorua-based paddlers Luuka Jones and Mike Dawson - members of the Waiariki Institute of Technology Academy of Sport - have been selected for the New Zealand canoe slalom team to compete at the London Olympics.

Their selection followed strong performances in confirming their spots inside the world top 16 in their sport and meeting the tough New Zealand Olympic Committee criteria. Jones and Dawson will compete in K1W and K1M respectively.

Jones, who competed at the Beijing Olympics as a teenager in 2008, said it felt even more awesome than the first time.

The 23-year-old said she was a lot younger and naive at Beijing.

"It was four years ago and a huge experience. I'm definitely a lot better athlete and I'm just happy that I got that experience," Jones said.

She had already qualified for the London Olympics with her performance at September's world championships in Slovakia but the selection announcement was a "bit of a relief".

"I met the criteria last September but it's good to have it officially confirmed. Now I can just focus on my preparation."

Jones is well into her training programme, which was designed for her to peak for the London Olympics.

She got an early taste of top-level competition at the New Zealand Open on the Mangahao River, near Shannon, at the weekend. Jones came second to Czech paddler Karoline Galuskova.

She was delighted with her placing but said the only race that counted was in London.<

Next week Jones will continue her preparation and train and compete in the Australian Canoe Slalom Open and the 2012 Oceania Canoe Slalom Continental Championships at the Sydney Olympic course in Penrith.

She said the pair's preparation would take them to Europe, where they would train on the Olympic course in London.

Jones was the first woman to represent New Zealand in her sport at Beijing, where she finished 21st.

She qualified New Zealand as the 14th-ranked nation in K1M in Slovakia.

A delighted Dawson will also be competing in Australia.

"It's awesome," said a delighted Dawson yesterday on hearing the news of his Olympic Games selection.

He also said that having his selection confirmed would allow him to focus fully on his training.

Dawson left yesterday to attend a one-month training camp in Australia as well as compete in the two canoe slalom events in Penrith.

At the New Zealand Open at Mangahao last weekend, he placed a creditable seventh.

"It was a good competitive result with a lot of top paddlers," Dawson said.

The star-studded field including the world No7, Swiss Michael Kurt, who was the eventual winner, and world No3, Czech Vavrinec Hradilek.

Dawson was ranked 11th at the 2011 world championships in Slovakia.