After 7 years of immense service, Canoe Slalom New Zealand will be bidding farewell to High Performance Manager Aaron Osborne, as he spreads his wings on to new ventures. From February 4, Aaron will take up the role of Performance Development Manager with Canoe Racing NZ, swapping his whitewater experience for sprint racing.

It is with mixed emotions that we say farewell, recognising the enormous contribution Aaron has made to our sport, but also excited for his new horizon, and the opportunity for collaboration across codes. Aaron joined CSNZ back in 2012 as the organisation’s first paid employee, with the grateful support of Canoe Slalom Bay of Plenty and the Coach Force Programme, pioneering coaching development, the Paddle Passport programme, and then coaching the National Performance Squad as some of his major achievements. More recently, with the success of the emerging athletes, the Olympic Team (which he managed to medal-success in 2016), and the Vector Wero Whitewater Park venue, Aaron has been instrumental in building the partnership and investment with High Performance Sport New Zealand, to the level now sustained to 2020.

As retiring two-time Olympian Mike dawson recently said, “It’s mind-blowing how far the sport has come. I remember looking up to a few gnarly older dudes when I was young and the sport was developing in the early 2000s, when we were struggling for international results. Now there are young rippers everywhere, we’re pushing it and performing on the world stage, we’ve got a high performance programme established and a lot of people are following the sport. We’ve got world-class coaches, an Olympic-standard course and a progressive, ambitious governing body.”

Newly-crowned Men’s K1 NZ Open Champion, Callum Gilbert added, “Aaron’s input has been colossal, and a vital part in getting canoe slalom in New Zealand to where it is now. On behalf of all the paddlers, we will miss him, but good to see the pleasure and passion he will have for his new role, as he has brought to us. When I started, I was on my own paddling with the club, and the instigation of NPS and Aaron’s coaching has been wicked, bringing us together for camps and training, and sharing resources.”

Aaron himself came up through the ranks of development programmes and in to New Zealand senior teams for many years, making the challenging transition to management on competitive retirement. He leaves behind an outstanding legacy, with high-performance investment secured, an internationally-renowned coaching team, and a plethora of paddlers pushing through for the future. In his new role with Canoe Racing and his love of slalom, it is already apparent for opportunities to collaborate, on such projects as Paddle Passport and AIMS Games, and on behalf of all in Canoe Slalom NZ we thank Aaron sincerely and look forward to a continuing close relationship.

Article added: Tuesday 29 January 2019