The 22-year-old, now an Aucklander, started canoeing internationally for New Zealand three years ago and has raced in world championships and world cups for the K1, K2, K4 500m and 1000m events.
Although she took up canoeing late, she attributes her interest in sport to growing up with the giant backyard that is Queenstown.
The first taste of any sport for Hatton was when she took up skiing before even entering primary school.
She and parents Patricia and Jim lived at Sunshine Bay before leaving for Auckland when she was only 6.
However, she still calls Queenstown home.
She admits the outdoors and "relaxed wilderness lifestyle" was hard to leave behind and she still misses it at times.
"I always like to remember where I am from.
"I certainly miss it and will always consider myself a Southerner.
"We have quite a few family friends remaining in Queenstown who we keep in regular contact with and visit occasionally."
While in Queenstown, her father worked at Skippers Canyon in mining and her mother at the Queenstown District Court and for the Queenstown police.
Hatton unintentionally took up kayaking fulltime when she was competing in surf ski competitions up north and wanted to improve on her paddling.
"[I] decided I enjoyed the racing and the drive to be able to compete at the Olympics, so I stayed with kayaking."
From her training base in Italy, Hatton said her main aim in London was to put forward the best race possible but she has aspirations of a future Olympic gold medal.
What motivates Hatton are other athletes, one being her coach, Kiwi Olympian great Ian Ferguson, who won four gold medals of his own.
"Just the whole experience of being at the Olympics, seeing all the other athletes, seeing how it works and racing in that environment," she said.
"Every athlete who gives everything in training and racing. It takes a lot to have that sort of determination and commitment."
Ranked 12th in her section, Hatton does not feel intimidated but she is wary of the competitors she will be up against next month.
"... you can never ignore the people you are up against."
Up against it she might be, but her strong performance at recent world cups in Poland and Germany has given her the chance to stamp her mark at just her first Olympic opportunity.
