Ian Ferguson GM for Wero Whitewater Park
It’s official, Ian Ferguson is the general manager of Wero Whitewater Park and he is now based in his own corner of a
tightly run office in Vodafone Events Centre at Manukau, Auckland.
The former sprint kayaker who cleaned up in international K1, K2 and K4 kayak events in the 1980s, is also extremely
comfortable in white water and has competed in world championships.
He has just returned from a rafting training course at Australia’s Penrith Whitewater Stadium, where he could observe
and critique the systems and facility.
“We are fine tuning Wero to eliminate risk and ensure the course delivers what we need in various situations,” says
Ferguson.
Happy in any environment with water and challenges, Ferguson will be right at home at Wero Whitewater Park when it opens
in April 2016.
The next few months will be spent developing the school programme, which aims to give 15,000 students an introduction to
white water every year.
“Most drownings in New Zealand are in moving water and bringing young people to Wero will develop their respect for
white water, and pushing their boundaries will build their self-esteem.”
The park includes the world’s first manmade 4.5 metre waterfall and the Wero team believes that if they can get a
youngster over that drop, they will believe they can do anything.
The younger generation may not recognise Ferguson for his record-breaking Olympic performances that were racked up well
before they were born but for corporates using the facility, he will definitely be inspirational.
He doesn’t see Wero being about him.
“It’s about water and learning – whether the person experiencing the white water is a local school kid, a business
looking for a team building challenge or an Olympic hopeful.”
ends