Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Olympic kayaker Alicia Hoskin is turning to the community to help her compete with the best in the world.
Hoskin, 24, is likely to be a member of the New Zealand K4 crew that will head to this year's Paris Olympics.
They won the World 2023 K4 500 title, but doing it again at an Olympics is another step up.
Hoskin and her Gisborne based family are running a fundraiser to help her with that extra two percent that turns a very good athlete into the best.
"We do get good support from Canoe Racing New Zealand and the Olympic Committee but when we're working on improving tenths of a second, our team often invests in additional resources and services," Hoskin told RNZ.
High Performance Sport New Zealand is the primary funder of her campaign.
New Zealand kayak team member Alicia Hoskin. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Those extras include the use of specialist bio mechanics, breathing specialists and nutritionists.
"All these extras are self-funded so that's where my family and I decided to run a hospitality fundraising event to help with all of those things."
Hoskin said to compete with the the Eastern European countries, they needed all the help they could get.
"They have a huge amount of history in the sport and therefore a huge number of athletes who are fighting for the spots to race at the Olympics.
"In New Zealand we don't have those numbers so we lean into every single little inch that we can get, so there is more accountability on us to hone into every millisecond."
The fundraiser at the North Shore Canoe Club on Sunday will include a raffle and an auction, but Hoskin said she was very keen to give back and wanted to share her story with others.
"I want to share my journey, the exciting parts and also the challenges I have along the way.
"So when I do get to a big event I feel connected with the people that I'm representing.
"I want them to feel a part of that performance and for them to know that I can't get there on my own."
Hoskin also regularly gets asked what it was like to be competing alongside a legend of the sport, Dame Lisa Carrington.
Those attending will be able to make a physical connection with the sport as they will have the opportunity to try out a K1 boat.
While the fund-raising event was being held in Auckland, Hoskin was getting a lot of support from her home town of Gisborne.
A number of businesses in the Poverty Bay have donated items for the auction.
Her mother Toni Hoskin said there was no set amount they were hoping to raise as any amount would help.
However she said her daughter's Toyota has done more than 250,000 kilometres and was on its last legs so an updated car would also help.
Alicia Hoskin left Gisborne in 2018 when she joined the New Zealand high performance squad.
As a 17-year-old she was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and required heart surgery.
The K4 crew of Carrington, Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughn qualified for the Olympics by winning at the 2023 World Championships in Germany.
