The Central Otago paddler snapped up five titles at the Oceania championships recently, putting him on the right path ahead of another busy year on the water.
Collier, 22, won the open men’s and under-23 kayak cross, the open men’s and under-23 KX individual and the under-23 K1M canoe slalom at the Wero Whitewater Park.
He was in good company alongside Central Otago Whitewater Club paddlers Finn Butcher, the Olympic champion, younger brother Sam Collier and Quinn McCutcheon, who won the under-18 K1M title in Auckland.
Collier, who also placed second in the open men’s canoe slalom, 0.26sec behind Australian Tim Anderson, took nearly two months out of the boat at the end of last year struggling with a back injury.
That made him slightly nervous heading into the 2026 season.
But after some time back home in Alexandra - Collier is now based in Auckland - with Central Otago coach Alex Goni, and some good training blocks, he felt healthy heading into the big event.
‘‘The result was better than I could have hoped for, really,’’ Collier said.
He was thrilled with his success, including winning the kayak cross in a ‘‘stacked’’ final against Anderson, Butcher and Kiwi Oli Puchner, who is the under-23 C1 vice-world champion.
But Collier saw the growth in his paddling in the canoe slalom.
‘‘For me, it was the canoe slalom that I was really stoked with.
‘‘To get within half a second ... that was far and away the best result I’ve had in canoe slalom, so that was super exciting.’’
The Oceania event was also the final selection race for the national team - ‘‘the pressure was even more on’’ - and Collier was pumped to punch his ticket for the national under-23, senior kayak cross and K1 men’s teams. McCutcheon also made the under-18 team.
That opens up a lot of doors for another busy season.
Collier will compete at the national championships in Kawerau over Easter, before heading away for at least two world cup series competitions in Prague and Germany.
He then heads to Poland for the under-23 world championships and later to Oklahoma for the senior world championships.
Criteria for quota spots for the Los Angles Olympics in 2028 - which remains Collier’s big goal - encompassed the back end of the 2026 season, he said.
Collier is no stranger to success in recent years.
He was the under-23 vice world champion in the kayak cross in 2023, struggled in 2024 then became the first Kiwi to win gold at the junior and under-23 canoe slalom world championships when he won the under-23 kayak cross title last year.
‘‘2025 - that was a big one for me, starting to feel competitive in the senior realm and then winning the under-23 world championship.
‘‘The trajectory is looking really good, so it’s just keep doing what I’m doing, trying to find the improvements where I can.
‘‘I think at the moment there’s still a lot of gaps that I can fill, which is exciting because it gets a little bit scary if you can’t find gaps to improve.’’
