Overall winner Tupu King won his third consecutive title at the event and will be number one for the open men's team. Paul is possibly more excited about his nephew's selection for the first time in the open men's team than regaining his own place in the team. He was in the New Zealand development team last year so it is pretty good for him to step up into the open men's team. He first represented New Zealand at white water rafting in 2003 and he has been in New Zealand white water and waka ama teams ever since. Before leaving for Tahiti six New Zealand teams will hold a major training camp off Pilot Bay from June 3-4.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 18, 2017 22:18 UTC