Years of early morning training sessions on Auckland’s North Shore are about to pay off for canoe sprint brother and sister Tuva’a and Samalulu Clifton when they pull on the Samoan colours at the Paris Olympic Games.
The pair have spent 12 years honing their skills at Lake Pupuke, and now for the first time will be Olympic team-mates.
Tuva’a paddled for Samoa at the 2020 Tokyo Games, while Samalulu is making her debut, having previously paddled for New Zealand at other international events.
Tuva’a told 1News before they left for Europe that it hadn’t quite clicked that they’re heading to the games.
“It’s sort of a thing we’ve been saying – ‘Once we get to Paris’ – so it doesn’t quite feel real yet,” he laughed.
“Once we start flying to Europe, we’ll be like ‘yeah alright, it’s happening’.”
The Cliftons, with their other sister Aotea, began canoeing while competing in surf life saving competitions as teenagers.
Now, nearly 12 years later, they are at the top of the sport. Suva’a recently won a gold medal for Samoa at the Pacific Games in the K1 500m.
Both said their training under coach Gavin Elmiger had significantly helped them.
Samalulu described Olympic training as a six-day “grind”, starting with a 5.30am alarm, followed by a trip to the lake.
“This morning, we had a 20km pedal, and we’ll probably do about three of those a week,” Tuva’a said.
“And then we do a whole bunch of other sorts of hard sessions. Over the week, we probably do about 14 [sessions].”
They spend six days a week either out on the water or in the gym – only getting Sundays off to rest.
“We look forward to the Sunday sleep-in,” Samalulu said.
“But it’s become second nature for us; we’ve been doing it for so long that it’s just become a part of our daily routines.”
‘I think mum’s more excited’
For both siblings, this year’s Olympics will be special, competing in the same international colours and with their family there to cheer them on in person.
“It’s good to go with my sister,” Tuva’a said.
“The whole family will come along as well because the Tokyo Games were the Covid Olympics, so none of my family, or anyone, was there.
“It will be good to have actual crowds there too.”
Samalulu had spent most of her career competing for New Zealand, joining the Samoan team around a year ago.
“I’m happy to be joining [Tuva’a] and seeing what it’s all about,” she said.
“Seeing what the biggest sporting event in the world is like will be really cool.
“And to do it together, it’s pretty exciting.”
Asked if their parents are proud, Tuva’a said: “They’re definitely proud – I sometimes think my mum’s more excited.”
“She does a lot of fundraising and helps behind the scenes with fundraising and everything, so it’s good to have them fully on board.”
‘We’ll try as hard as we can’
In Tokyo, Tuva’a said his goal was to “not come last”. Now he hopes to take another step up.
“I didn’t come last. That was my goal, but this this time around, I think I’m looking at just trying to get a personal best time.
“You’re racing the best in the world, so I can’t beat myself up if I lose.”
Asked if they’re going to try bring medals home, Samalulu said: “We’ll see how it goes. We’ll try as hard as we can.”
‘Honour’ to represent Samoa
Both siblings said it was an “honour” to be representing Samoa at the Olympics.
“It was about a year ago that I decided I wanted to change and race for Samoa, more just because I thought it was something cool that I could do and represent a smaller country on the world stage,” Samalulu said.
“It was just such an amazing opportunity, I thought: ‘Why not?’. And I know it was something our family would love.”
“Samoa has given us a lot of opportunities that we wouldn’t have had otherwise to race internationally,” Tuva’a said.
He said race day was always a big deal for their family in Samoa.
“All the cuzzies in Samoa are always like: ‘Oh, wow, we’re always watching you guys’.
“So that’s always a pretty nice feeling as well.”
Samalulu said she was looking forward to meeting the rest of the team in Europe.
“It’ll be cool to link up and just connect with some other athletes from Samoa.”
The pair had a training camp in Europe before heading off to the Olympic village and making their final preparations.
Tuva’a will compete in the men’s K1 1000m and Samalulu in the women’s K1 500m.