Mike Dawson is set to represent New Zealand at his second Olympic Games after winning the final selection event at the Oceania Championships in Penrith last weekend.

The 29-year-old’s 17th place performance in the men’s K1 semifinal was enough to secure him a potential berth in Rio after finishing ahead of exciting under-23 kayaker Callum Gilbert.

“It’s awesome to have taken the top boat in the New Zealand selection which means I am eligible to be nominated for Olympic Selection by New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC),” Dawson said.

“It was a tough selection with the younger New Zealand guys putting up strong performances across the races, it’s good to see some depth coming through in New Zealand.”

Although Dawson would have liked to have performed better than his 17th (Oceania Championships) and 18th (Australian Open) finishes in Australia he enjoyed starting the Olympic year in Penrith.

“I love the course, and at this time of the year, there are a lot of international paddlers around which makes it such an epic race,” Dawson continued.

“I wasn’t happy with my runs in the semifinal, but in the end, we were racing our selection within the race so I was stoked to make sure I did enough to get the New Zealand spot.”

The London Olympic semifinalist will travel to Rio next week for a training camp alongside fellow New Zealander Luuka Jones, who looks set to compete at a third Olympics after earning the right to be nominated to the NZOC in the women’s K1 event.

“I am really excited to get back to Rio, I really love that city, and it’s so vibrant and crazy so I am looking forward to getting back there,” Dawson said.

“The course they’ve built is great. It’s not as steep as others, but really technical!”