Latest news with #paddling
CBC
18-07-2025
- General
- CBC
What's it like paddling the Don River?
CBC's David Common speaks with a member of the non-profit organization Big Canoe Project about the rare opportunity to paddle the Don River — and what it reveals about the water's health and future.
RNZ News
18-07-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Ōtara teen paddler set to represent NZ in Brazil
In his element: Lochlan Sa'olotoga Te'o glides across the water. Photo: Supplied/LDR Ōtara teen Lochlan Sa'olotoga Te'o is heading to Brazil after being selected for the Aotearoa J19 men's waka ama team and will represent New Zealand at the Waka Ama World Distance Championships in Rio de Janeiro this August. The 13-year-old was stunned when he received the news of his selection. "I was shocked. I was the youngest at trial... but I knew I had the potential because of all the hard work I've put in," Te'o says. "I'm really excited to go to Brazil. Representing New Zealand is an amazing achievement. Getting to compete with my team on the international stage will be something I'll never forget." A Year 9 student at St Peter's College and a recent recipient of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Excellence Award, the young paddler first discovered waka ama at a school "have a go" day when he was just eight and fell in love with the sport. His journey received a valuable boost through the local board's award, which supports locals pursuing excellence. The grant helped cover the cost of a specialist paddle used exclusively by the national team. "It's pretty cool," Te'o says. "You have to be in the New Zealand team to get that paddle. I'm proud I get to use it." Lochlan Sa'olotoga Te'o with his biggest supporters - parents Caragh and Chris, and little brother Harrison. Photo: Supplied/LDR For his mother, Caragh Doherty, the achievement reflects years of sacrifice, early morning training, and belief in her son's dream. "We always heard waka could take you around the world. Now we're seeing that," she says. "But it comes with crazy expenses. We're not in a position to travel with him, but with help from friends, family and the local board, we were able to raise the funds he needed to get there. "It's not just the Excellence Award. The whole family worked hard. There's a lot of time and effort behind the scenes." Doherty initially hesitated to apply, unsure whether her son would be chosen. Now, she wants other families to know that support is available. "Don't shy away thinking it's not for you. It's there to be used. Just apply and let the board decide if it's for you or not. Just go for it." On Lochlan receiving the award, she adds, "I know the local board does amazing things, and I've seen that firsthand. But it was just awesome to get this opportunity to be recognised on a community level for his achievements. To have them backing him was pretty cool, I thought, and putting their trust in him and the kaupapa that he's part of." Doherty says getting Te'o and his team to Brazil was a major effort, even with some support from Waka Ama NZ. Lochlan Sa'olotoga Te'o, bottom right, with his teammates at their kākahu presentation last weekend. Photo: Waka Ama NZ via LDR Lochlan said what he is most looking forward to is racing with his teammates on the world stage. "The thing I'm most looking forward to in Brazil is competing, competing on an international stage with some of my friends and my teammates." He trains with the Takapuna-based Pineula Waka Ama Club and says balancing school, training, and study has been challenging but worthwhile. "There are definitely struggles with waking up really early before school, then training after school, then coming home and studying. But my family makes it all possible." He feels proud to represent both Sāmoa and Scotland in a team made up of Māori boys from across the motu. "It's cool to know I'll be representing Sāmoa too," he says. For others inspired by his journey, Te'o says, "If you really want to achieve something, never give up. Put your head down and work hard. Don't let what anyone says stop you." From left: Lochlan Sa'olotoga Te'o with his St Peter's Waka Ama team. Photo: Supplied/LDR Lotu Fuli, councillor for the Manukau ward, said initiatives like the Excellence Award can transform lives in South Auckland. "That's really good news, and I really commend the local board. I think those Excellence Awards were started for that very reason, to recognise that sometimes council's own processes are a barrier. The Excellence Awards offer a faster way for individuals, groups and sportspeople to apply and get that extra funding. "We know a lot of our young people, and our community in general, are talented and creative, but they often lack resources. In other areas, that's not the case. But here in South Auckland, that lack of resourcing is real. Without scholarships like this, many of our young champions wouldn't be able to go overseas. "Over the years, that fund has supported people to represent us at the UN, in sports around the world, at conferences, leadership camps. Even NASA. The Youth Hub benefited from that fund to go to NASA. It's a really awesome initiative, and I absolutely commend the local board for continuing that important mahi," she says. "My prayers go out to the young person going to Brazil. We'll all be cheering them on and hoping for the best." Apulu Reece Autagavaia, chair of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board, says the fund was created exactly for stories like Te'o's. "The local board is proud to support locals who are excelling on the world stage. Too often, outsiders underestimate us. These awards recognise and celebrate that we are beating the odds and thriving at the top of our chosen fields." The Excellence Award offers grants ranging from $500 to $2000. Elected members award the funds based on how the applicant's success can benefit and inspire others. Lochlan Sa'olotoga Te'o, a rising waka ama paddler, is at home on the water. Photo: Supplied/LDR Applications for the next round of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board Excellence Award are now open on the Auckland Council website. Locals must apply at least eight weeks before their event date. Visit for more details. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
SBS Australia
16-07-2025
- Sport
- SBS Australia
Meet the Greek-Australian 'Zeus' who champions in Dragon Boating and philosophises stoically!
A nickname like 'Zeus' doesn't come lightly. And as you'll soon discover, Christopher lives up to it both on and off the water. We had the great pleasure of sitting down with the champion paddler — now a successful coach — to hear the story behind the accolades and gain insight into the life of a man who continues to inspire new generations. Born and raised in Australia to a Greek family, Christopher's early years were steeped in a sense of culture and community. His mother's origins are from Cyprus. His father was born in Egypt, however his origins are from the island Lemnos, where Christopher visits annually and regards it as a home. 'My heritage absolutely shaped my upbringing,' he reflects. 'Greek values — family, hard work, loyalty, resilience — they've stayed with me all the way through my sporting career.' While many from our community typically gravitate towards football, basketball or athletics, Christopher took a different route. 'I wasn't surrounded by paddlers growing up,' he admits. 'There were no athletes in the family. I stumbled upon rowing whn i was studying in Oxford. Once I got in a boat, I was hooked. The rhythm, the mental and physical challenge — it just clicked.' Dragon boating and paddling, as he explains, is not for the faint-hearted. It's a sport that demands immense physical endurance, long hours, financial investment, and unwavering mental strength. Source: Supplied Over the years, there were countless highlights — from national victories to the thrill of representing Australia on the global stage. But for Christopher, the recent induction into the International Hall of Fame holds deep personal meaning. 'It's not just about medals. It's recognition of the journey — of every early morning, every injury, every sacrifice. And for someone with a multicultural background, it means a lot to stand in those halls.' Today, 'Zeus' has taken on a new role: that of coach and mentor. And the results speak for themselves. What's his secret as a coach? 'It's about balance,' he says. 'You push, but you protect. You challenge your athletes mentally and physically, but you also help them navigate setbacks. It's about building not just winners, but well-rounded people.' He adds: 'For multicultural athletes especially, I say — embrace who you are. Don't let anyone define your limits. Our diversity is our strength.' The nickname 'Zeus'? It started as a joke among teammates — a nod to his Greek roots, leadership qualities, and powerful presence in the boat. But the name stuck. 'Do I live up to it outside the water?' he laughs. 'I try! I'm passionate, loyal, maybe a bit loud — definitely Greek in all the best ways.' Outside paddling, Christopher enjoys cooking Greek food, reading history, and spending time with family. And yes — he travels to Greece often. His favorite place? Lemnos. He also has an ambition to climb to Greek mountains like Pindos and …Olympus. Cristopher Alexandrou with his mother Maria Alexandrou and Themi Kallos at the SBS studios in Artarmon. Source: SBS / SBS Greek- Niko Plaskasovitis
CNN
10-07-2025
- General
- CNN
Young indigenous kayakers about to complete historic river journey, after ‘largest dam removal in US history'
Ruby Williams' birthday was not your average 18th. She celebrated it on the Klamath River, with a group of young people making a historic journey paddling from the river's headwaters in southern Oregon to its mouth in the Pacific Ocean, just south of Crescent City, California. It marked the first time in a century that the descent has been possible, after the recent removal of four dams allowed the river to flow freely. Williams, together with fellow paddler Keeya Wiki, 17, spoke to CNN on day 15 of their month-long journey, which they are due to complete on Friday. At this point, they had just 141 miles (227 kilometers) of the 310-mile (499 kilometer) journey left to go and had already passed through some of the most challenging rapids, such as those at the 'Big Bend' and 'Hell's Corner' sections of the river. Both were exhausted and hadn't showered in days — although they promised they 'aren't completely feral.' However, despite tired minds, they were steadfast in their commitment. 'We are reclaiming our river, reclaiming our sport,' said Williams. 'We are getting justice,' Wiki, who is from the Yurok Tribe, added. 'And making sure that my people and all the people on the Klamath River can live how we're supposed to.' The Klamath River runs deep in the cultures of the native peoples living in its basin, who historically used dugout canoes to travel along it. They view it as a living person, a relative, who they can depend on — and in turn protect. 'It's our greatest teacher, our family member,' said Williams, who is from the Karuk Tribe, which occupies lands along the middle course of the Klamath. 'We revolve ceremonies around it, like when the salmon start running (the annual migration from the sea back to freshwater rivers to spawn), we know it's time to start a family.' Historically, it was also a lifeline, providing them with an abundance of fish. The Klamath was once the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast of the US. But between 1918 and 1966, electric utility company California Oregon Power Company (which later became PacifiCorp), built a series of hydroelectric dams along the river's course, which cut off the upstream pathway for migrating salmon, and the tribes lost this cultural and commercial resource. For decades, native people — such as the Karuk and Yurok tribes — demanded the removal of the dams and restoration of the river. But it was only in 2002, after low water levels caused a disease outbreak that killed more than 30,000 fish, that momentum really started to build for their cause. Twenty years later, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finally approved a plan to remove four dams on the lower Klamath River. This was when Paddle Tribal Waters was set up by the global organization Ríos to Rivers to reconnect native children to the ancient river. Believing that native peoples ought to be the first to descend the newly restored river, the program started by teaching local kids from the basin how to paddle in whitewater. Wiki and Williams were among them — neither had kayaked before then. Related article This 1,000-mile river suffered decades of oil spills. Now it's a legal person, things could change In the fall of 2024, the last of the four dams was removed – completing what has been called 'the world's largest dam removal effort' by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Upriver (beyond where the Klamath River technically begins), two smaller non-hydroelectric dams remain, where the paddlers had to disembark and carry the kayaks overland; there are currently no plans to remove them despite an ongoing campaign. Wiki recalled feeling giddy when she heard that the last dam had fallen. 'So many of our elders and our aunties and uncles… fought so hard to get these dams down,' she said. 'It was a really long, hard fight, and a lot of people thought — even my grandma thought — they would never see the dams come down in their lifetime. 'So, for us to paddle down the river… it's very surreal. I think we're all just so grateful, knowing that the salmon can finally go from the mouth to the headwaters, and that we can go from the headwaters to the mouth too.' Weston Boyles, founder and director of Ríos to Rivers, who is also on the journey, said that it was critical that native people lead the first descent. 'Historically, 'first descents' have been a colonial idea: outsiders staking claims on waterways that indigenous communities have navigated for millennia,' he said. 'We're reclaiming a stolen narrative. It matters because those waters flow through ancestral homelands, and these young paddlers are reasserting sovereignty, healing cultural trauma, and honoring their tribes' deep connections to the river.' The ecological impact is also something to celebrate. Within a few days of the final dam being removed, chinook salmon (the largest of the Pacific salmon species) were seen swimming past the former location of Iron Gate Dam in northern California — a spot where no fish had passed in 60 years, said Dave Coffman, director of northern California and southern Oregon for Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), the company working on the Klamath's restoration. 'We were hopeful that within a couple of years we would see salmon return to Southern Oregon. It took the salmon two weeks,' he told CNN. 'No one saw that coming — the response has exceeded our wildest hopes. It demonstrates the remarkable resilience of these fish: if we give them a chance, they will make their way back home.' But there is no denying the landscape has changed dramatically since before the dams and it will take years to recover, according to Coffman. RES is working to accelerate the natural process by reshaping channels, excavating sediment, planting billions of native seeds along the riverbanks, and even using helicopters to place downed trees in tributaries to provide crucial cover for fish and wildlife. 'Sometimes we give nature a gentle nudge, but sometimes we give it a great big shove in the right direction,' says Coffman. Wiki and Williams have already witnessed the results. 'It's been so cool to paddle through where the old reservoirs were and see all the new growth,' said Williams. 'I got to see it earlier this year and it was kind of looking sad, and then I paddled through a couple days ago and it looks like a completely different river.' Related article Lost underwater forests are returning to Sydney's coastline After completing the epic journey, the girls will go their separate ways. Williams will head off to college in fall and Wiki is starting her final year of high school. But despite living on different sections of the river and being from different tribes, they are confident their paths will cross again. Both strongly believe their futures are grounded in the Klamath. Williams dreams of coming back in her college breaks and becoming a paddle instructor, while Wiki sees herself doing advocacy work for her community. 'We are celebrating (now), but there's still so much work to be done in the United States and also globally around dams and dam removal,' said Wiki. '(I want to) create a larger global community.'
CNN
10-07-2025
- General
- CNN
Young indigenous kayakers about to complete historic river journey, after ‘largest dam removal in US history'
Ruby Williams' birthday was not your average 18th. She celebrated it on the Klamath River, with a group of young people making a historic journey paddling from the river's headwaters in southern Oregon to its mouth in the Pacific Ocean, just south of Crescent City, California. It marked the first time in a century that the descent has been possible, after the recent removal of four dams allowed the river to flow freely. Williams, together with fellow paddler Keeya Wiki, 17, spoke to CNN on day 15 of their month-long journey, which they are due to complete on Friday. At this point, they had just 141 miles (227 kilometers) of the 310-mile (499 kilometer) journey left to go and had already passed through some of the most challenging rapids, such as those at the 'Big Bend' and 'Hell's Corner' sections of the river. Both were exhausted and hadn't showered in days — although they promised they 'aren't completely feral.' However, despite tired minds, they were steadfast in their commitment. 'We are reclaiming our river, reclaiming our sport,' said Williams. 'We are getting justice,' Wiki, who is from the Yurok Tribe, added. 'And making sure that my people and all the people on the Klamath River can live how we're supposed to.' The Klamath River runs deep in the cultures of the native peoples living in its basin, who historically used dugout canoes to travel along it. They view it as a living person, a relative, who they can depend on — and in turn protect. 'It's our greatest teacher, our family member,' said Williams, who is from the Karuk Tribe, which occupies lands along the middle course of the Klamath. 'We revolve ceremonies around it, like when the salmon start running (the annual migration from the sea back to freshwater rivers to spawn), we know it's time to start a family.' Historically, it was also a lifeline, providing them with an abundance of fish. The Klamath was once the third-largest salmon-producing river on the West Coast of the US. But between 1918 and 1966, electric utility company California Oregon Power Company (which later became PacifiCorp), built a series of hydroelectric dams along the river's course, which cut off the upstream pathway for migrating salmon, and the tribes lost this cultural and commercial resource. For decades, native people — such as the Karuk and Yurok tribes — demanded the removal of the dams and restoration of the river. But it was only in 2002, after low water levels caused a disease outbreak that killed more than 30,000 fish, that momentum really started to build for their cause. Twenty years later, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission finally approved a plan to remove four dams on the lower Klamath River. This was when Paddle Tribal Waters was set up by the global organization Ríos to Rivers to reconnect native children to the ancient river. Believing that native peoples ought to be the first to descend the newly restored river, the program started by teaching local kids from the basin how to paddle in whitewater. Wiki and Williams were among them — neither had kayaked before then. Related article This 1,000-mile river suffered decades of oil spills. Now it's a legal person, things could change In the fall of 2024, the last of the four dams was removed – completing what has been called 'the world's largest dam removal effort' by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Upriver (beyond where the Klamath River technically begins), two smaller non-hydroelectric dams remain, where the paddlers had to disembark and carry the kayaks overland; there are currently no plans to remove them despite an ongoing campaign. Wiki recalled feeling giddy when she heard that the last dam had fallen. 'So many of our elders and our aunties and uncles… fought so hard to get these dams down,' she said. 'It was a really long, hard fight, and a lot of people thought — even my grandma thought — they would never see the dams come down in their lifetime. 'So, for us to paddle down the river… it's very surreal. I think we're all just so grateful, knowing that the salmon can finally go from the mouth to the headwaters, and that we can go from the headwaters to the mouth too.' Weston Boyles, founder and director of Ríos to Rivers, who is also on the journey, said that it was critical that native people lead the first descent. 'Historically, 'first descents' have been a colonial idea: outsiders staking claims on waterways that indigenous communities have navigated for millennia,' he said. 'We're reclaiming a stolen narrative. It matters because those waters flow through ancestral homelands, and these young paddlers are reasserting sovereignty, healing cultural trauma, and honoring their tribes' deep connections to the river.' The ecological impact is also something to celebrate. Within a few days of the final dam being removed, chinook salmon (the largest of the Pacific salmon species) were seen swimming past the former location of Iron Gate Dam in northern California — a spot where no fish had passed in 60 years, said Dave Coffman, director of northern California and southern Oregon for Resource Environmental Solutions (RES), the company working on the Klamath's restoration. 'We were hopeful that within a couple of years we would see salmon return to Southern Oregon. It took the salmon two weeks,' he told CNN. 'No one saw that coming — the response has exceeded our wildest hopes. It demonstrates the remarkable resilience of these fish: if we give them a chance, they will make their way back home.' But there is no denying the landscape has changed dramatically since before the dams and it will take years to recover, according to Coffman. RES is working to accelerate the natural process by reshaping channels, excavating sediment, planting billions of native seeds along the riverbanks, and even using helicopters to place downed trees in tributaries to provide crucial cover for fish and wildlife. 'Sometimes we give nature a gentle nudge, but sometimes we give it a great big shove in the right direction,' says Coffman. Wiki and Williams have already witnessed the results. 'It's been so cool to paddle through where the old reservoirs were and see all the new growth,' said Williams. 'I got to see it earlier this year and it was kind of looking sad, and then I paddled through a couple days ago and it looks like a completely different river.' Related article Lost underwater forests are returning to Sydney's coastline After completing the epic journey, the girls will go their separate ways. Williams will head off to college in fall and Wiki is starting her final year of high school. But despite living on different sections of the river and being from different tribes, they are confident their paths will cross again. Both strongly believe their futures are grounded in the Klamath. Williams dreams of coming back in her college breaks and becoming a paddle instructor, while Wiki sees herself doing advocacy work for her community. 'We are celebrating (now), but there's still so much work to be done in the United States and also globally around dams and dam removal,' said Wiki. '(I want to) create a larger global community.'
