Canoeist takes on world
While his mates are off throwing around the rugby ball on Saturday mornings, Jordan Mclarin is on the water preparing for the International Canoe Federation Canoe Marathon World Championships.
A canoe marathon is an event in which athletes paddle through and around obstacles and currents as well as carry their boats over land between two bodies of water.
It’s not the typical sport for a 16-year-old boy to get into but for Mclarin, canoeing is in his blood.
‘‘I never got really into until I was about 12-13 but I have been around canoeing all my life.’’
‘‘Dad was pretty handy back in the day he had a few national championship titles and that so one day he just told me to come down to the Waitemata canoeing club and I just took to it’’, he says.
The Green Bay High School student quickly found he was a natural on the water, and earlier this year had two second place finishes at the New Zealand canoeing nationals in the under-19 division, booking him a spot at the world championships in Germany on September 15.
‘‘The Olympics is obviously the end goal for anyone serious about canoeing and I’m no different.’’
‘‘I have sort of small goals planned out to hopefully get me there. This year the aim will be top 10 at the upcoming worlds, then a little bit better next year and hopefully 2018 will the year I can really take over, with an eye on Tokyo 2020.’’
A product of the Waitemata Canoeing club, Mclarin competes both individually and in team boats, as well as in a variety of different distances though he prefers to race alone.
‘‘I do prefer to race solo. You can dictate exactly what you want to do and the only short coming is yourself, you can’t blame anyone else,’’ he says.
Already racing successfully against people three years his senior, Mclarin is poised to make big waves in the canoeing world in the years to come.thanks in no small part to his commitment and training.
Mclarin departs for Germany early next month. He will compete in both the K1000 and marathon events.