2 backers for Te Aito champion

Star paddler Reuben Dearlove trains hard every year, but this year he’s upping the ante.

Dearlove is determined to beat his finish times at last year’s Te Aito Cook Islands and Te Aito Tahiti, and to take on the world’s best at Super Aito.

He has been following a strict training regimen – running, doing core work and putting in no less than two hours of water time per day. Often he will paddle a two-man canoe, using another person as deadweight.

His goal is to place in the top 100 at Te Aito Tahiti in order to qualify for Super Aito, a race reserved for the world’s most elite paddlers.

In recognition of his dedication and commitment to his sport, Cook Islands News and Pacific Resort are sponsoring Dearlove’s Te Aito campaign.

Each has pledged over $3000, which will go toward a custom-built Tehuritaua V1 canoe that weighs in at less than nine kilograms.

”This is awesome because it means that when I go to Tahiti I have a canoe that puts me on a level competing with the guys over there,“ Dearlove said. ”Because of the number of people (competing) it’s hard to find top-level canoes, but it’s a huge advantage to have a really good canoe.“

Cook Islands News and Pacific Resort have agreed to support Dearlove in exchange for the promotional benefits of sponsorship and the simple ”satisfaction of seeing a champion do better than better“, Cook Islands News managing editor John Woods said.

”Pacific Resort and Cook Islands News are strong supporters of outrigger paddling because of the prominence and profile of the sport being relatively new but steeped in tradition and our cultures as Polynesian people,“ Woods said.

”But further, we see the stellar performance of Reuben Dearlove as a fabulous example in this code of what can be done with dedication and passion at a higher level than normal.“

Woods admires Dearlove’s commitment to achieving peak performance.

”The difficulty he has is he’s not unemployed or fully sponsored like most of the people he competes against – he has a young family and a business, and is working under self-discipline to maintain this regime.“

Both Cook Islands News and Pacific Resort are proud to support both Dearlove and the sport of outrigger canoeing.

”I would like to think that this won’t breed jealousy or contempt but would foster respect and admiration and copy-catting by young paddlers, who can learn from example the level of commitment required to excel internationally,“ Woods said.

Dearlove has agreed to bring his new canoe home after the race, and to make it available for Cook Islands women and juniors to use at Te Aito Tahiti. He has also agreed to help with mentoring, coaching and training up-and-coming paddlers.