Quinn McCutcheon (16) and his family are off to Italy at the end of May to prepare for the Junior World Kayaking Champs, after his recent NZ Under-18 selection.

The Junior World Champs are being held in Krakow, Poland in July, and Quinn will meet up with his Kiwi team mates in June to start training - following his U-18 Oceanic 2026 title in January.

The 2026 Oceanic Canoe Slalom Championships were held on the Wero Whitewater Course in Auckland, bringing together elite paddlers from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and Korea.

Quinn delivered an exceptional performance and dominated the opening day of racing, finishing first in his age group and immediately establishing himself as a standout competitor.

He moved his position from 15th to 9th overall, out of 34 male paddlers, and among several other international Central Otago Whitewater Club members, including Finn Butcher, Nick Collier, Tom and Ollie Goldsmith.

It was Nick who first inspired Quinn to give canoe polo a go back in primary school (11), and then he progressed through the program into slalom and loved it.

Quinn was told two years ago that if he truly wanted to go far in the sport, he needed to train six days a week, all year-round. 

From that moment, he committed to 20+ hours of training each week across six days. 

The results came quickly: at the first nationals held after that first cold winter of training (2024), he earned a silver medal in the K1 Men’s Under-16 category. He backed it up the following year with another silver in Under-18. That steady rise culminated in his biggest achievement yet: winning the Oceania Championship, a result that confirmed he now belongs among the region’s best.  

This marked a significant achievement and highlighted his potential on the international stage.

16-year-old Quinn in action on the water. Image: supplied

Mum Aimee, has been frantically organising overseas travel for the family - husband Matt and daughter Grace are coming too.

“It’s Quinn’s first time wearing the Silver Fern on the international stage, and no question about it - we want to be there to support him."

Quinn wasn’t expecting to win the Oceania title and certainly not expecting international competitions in his first year.

Aimee was involved with the judging, and got the heads up early on from other officials that her son had potentially just won the Oceania title.

But Quinn still had another event, and nobody wanted to put him off his game. Even his coach Alex Goni wouldn’t let him look at the results board, and had told Mum to stay away from Quinn as he needed to focus.  

“I couldn’t quite believe I had won. I had to wait until the prizegiving the next day to know,” Quinn said.

The CO Whitewater Club employs a kayaking coach from overseas every season, and this year Alex has joined the club from Spain (October until end of April).

The club has always been strong and people wanting to learn the sport are introduced through different levels - first starting in a pool, then into an irrigation pond, eventually out to the course at Earnscleugh, before tackling Central Otago rapids.

“We’ve got an awesome lot of parents and other adults who help run the club – without them we wouldn’t be able to do what we do, the kids of Central Otago are truly lucky," Aimee said.

Quinn said he was mentored and helped by Finn, Nick and Ollie and loves the community within kayaking as much as the sport itself. 

“Even our neighbours comment on how impressed they are seeing me putting the boat on the roof of the car when it’s been freezing or snowing day after day – I must say though this year I am looking forward to missing lots of the winter by being in Europe,” Quinn said.

The family are fundraising through a Givealittle Page and are holding a Quiz night on April 22 at Ida Bar to help raise funds for their son’s trip.

The Central App will follow Quinn’s progress overseas through his mother (now offical manager), in coming months.

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