Brian Rogers Rogers Rabbits www.sunlive.co.nz

We've had an overload of heavy metals originating from the pristine waters of the Bay of Plenty.

But don't go calling the pollution hotline… these metals are all good. They're medal metals. Proving our boaters are among the world's best.

The Bay's watersports Olympians have extracted stunning results from the Rio games, from sailing to kayaking, whitewater to flatwater. There must have been some bleary eyes turning up for work around the region this week, after witnessing the best-ever Olympic results for the Bay of Plenty.



It started with a silver medal for Tauranga's Luuka Jones in the slalom kayak, then TYPBC's Peter Burling and his world champion crewman Blair Tuke completely dominating for gold in the 49er sailing; Lisa Carrington's stunning double gold in the flatwater kayaking.



Mahe clinched a cliffhanger for another gold; then local sailor Sam Meech beat world and Olympic champions to claim bronze in the Laser class.

But it's not just the medal winners basking in the glory of success. There's a stack more talent from our region snapping at the heels of the champions, such Tauranga's Jason Saunders and Gemma Jones hammering on the fringe of medal territory with a first place in the final race of the Nacra 17 catamarans, taking them fourth place overall.

Molly Meech and Alex Maloney delivered silver in a nail-biting finale to the women's 49erFX.

Mike Dawson rocked it on the slalom course to make the finals, making NZ whitewater history alongside Luuka.

As mentioned in a previous column, it's not surprising the Bay is tops in the world for watersports, considering the amazing coastline and waterways on our doorstep.

Congratulations to our local Olympians, their teams and families for a stunning result. Remember water people are blessed on Earth. We have 71 percent of the world in oceans, that just leaves 29 per cent for the landlubbers. No wonder boaters are winners.

Chiming in

Because we're a water city, Tauranga is to celebrate its connection to the sea with a stunning new 'Access to the Water” project. (See page 15) Donel Svendsen has suggested, along with several other astute RR readers, the city could have a real water feature on the waterfront, such as the 'sea organ” of Croatia.

It is a series of cleverly designed steps with integrated air chambers, which use the motion of the sea compressing air through the chambers and through airways to create ‘hauntingly beautiful sounds.' It's all powered by nature. We may not have enough sea swell on the Strand to create the same phenomenon here, but when she blows from the east there's a good sea slop bashing into The Strand reclamation walls. Worth a thought, surely? Search ‘sea organ' or check Earthables website: www.earthables.com/croatia-230-foot-sea-organ-1453511979.html

Brian's Brainstorming

While brainstorming this week it was discovered that brainstorming doesn't work.

Some latest research (isn't there always?) suggests that brainstorming has the opposite effect… in fact these researchers reckon better results are achieved by people going off to think on their own.

Apparently we can blame the Americans (don't we always?) for coming up with the brainstorm buzzword in the forties.

'Brainstorming is a complex process where people are trying to listen, think, add, collaborate, build,” according to the curiously-named professor Paul Paulus, at the University of Texas.

'It's cumbersome, it's difficult psychologically, and people don't do it very well.” The end result is that brainstorming does the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do. So they've come up with a 'better” system, called brainwriting. (Not to be confused with Brianwriting, which is this column.) Basically, people write down their ideas quietly, rather than saying them out loud. Then they pass their papers around and read each other's ideas, while continuing to write down their ideas. A sort of 'pass the parcel” thinking game.

They say it helps share ideas and build on them, while avoiding the pitfalls of face-to-face conversation brainstorming.

New fad

Meanwhile there's a new pastime in the region, rumoured to have started in Mount Maunganui, which may displace planking and streaking. It's called Geckoing, in which the participants cling to walls, columns, trees or any other vertical surface and pose like a gecko.

It's catching on fast, like a lizard drinking.

It won't be long now before Geckoing becomes an Olympic sport. And we'll be the best in the world at it, too!

Look out for a geckoer on a wall near you.

brian@thesun.co.nz

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