Extreme Team Kiwi Kayaker's Racy Proposal

Mike’s girl came to his rescue!

- Ellen Mackenzie

Olympic kayaker Mike Dawson met his fiancée Martina Wegman on the water and their relationship has been built around their shared love of sport, so it was only fitting that when he popped the question, it was in the middle of running the South Island’s Coast to Coast race!

“It was at the top of the Goat Pass, right in the middle of the Southern Alps, which was pretty cool,” laughs Tauranga-born adventurer Mike, 32. “It helped that I had just injured my knee and Martina had to stay with me to help me down the other side – I didn’t have to worry about losing her when I was planning to propose!”

Smiling, Dutch beauty Martina, 29, adds, “Before the race, I’d been training a lot for the canoe slalom season but had been recovering from being sick for over a month, so I hadn’t done much to prepare for the Coast to Coast race. I knew it was going to be tough, but I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. And then Mike proposed and I ended up crying!”

In the end, it was a happy yes from Martina, but the road to the adventurous proposal wasn’t an easy one for Mike. Despite competing at the Olympics twice in slalom kayaking, the usually cool headed athlete quickly discovered that finding the perfect engagement ring was a nerve-racking task.