Paddle Partners - Can't Capsize Their Love!

The sporty pair tie the knot in a cosy lakeside ceremony

- Ellen Mackenzie

As an Olympic kayaker who’s competed in countless races across the globe, it takes a lot to make Tauranga born Mike Dawson nervous. Yet the sports star can’t stop shaking as the gentle notes of “All I Want is You” by Barry Louis Polisar start to play and he looks down the aisle for the love of his life, his beautiful bride and fellow kayaker Martina Wegman.

“It’s actually quite funny how nervous I was,” laughs Mike when Woman’s Day catches up with him after the ceremony. “But standing up there with my friends and watching Martina wander down through the trees – that was pretty epic. To be finally getting married is really special. It’s another big step in life we’re taking together.”

The simple, rustic-style celebration has been a long time coming for Mike and Dutch-born Martina, who first met at a kayaking competition in 2009, going on to enjoy a long-distance friendship that slowly developed into romance.

With their shared love of water and non-stop training to make it to next year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, it seems only appropriate that the pair are tying the knot on the edge of Lake Rotoiti, just 20 minutes from Rotorua.