Dame Lisa Carrington after a training session.
Spending many early mornings with New Zealand’s elite women’s kayaking team, Michael Burgess captures the grit, camaraderie and pursuit of excellence that drives these athletes. Pushing through wind-whipped waters and tough training programmes, they remain relentless in their quest for glory at Paris 2024.
In his long career,
He was hanging out the side of his small coaching boat, trying to stabilise one of his paddlers, whose kayak had taken on a lot of water. Auckland’s Lake Pupuke can be an inviting place on a beautiful morning – but this was far from a beautiful morning. It was grey and overcast, with savage gusts of wind and swells ripping across the lake.
But it’s been the base of Dame Lisa Carrington and the New Zealand female kayaking squad for more than a decade and the show must go on, in the ongoing fight to compete with the biggest nations in the sport. The rise of the women’s programme – propelled by Carrington and Walker – has been remarkable.
Canoe Racing New Zealand had its first female Olympian in 2008, when Erin Taylor raced in Beijing, but has a record six in Paris. The recipe for success has been multifaceted but relies on a brick-by-brick approach, looking for constant improvement in every aspect.
”We don’t have the amount of athletes,” Walker tells the Herald. “So we need to find edges everywhere. That’s our way.”
It’s 6.45am on a Saturday morning and the North Shore Canoe Club is a hive of activity. There are junior paddlers getting ready, while a group of rowers are already on the water. Walker arrives, toting a worn-out bag from the 2012 Olympics, with the initials GW peeling off. Like he has done thousands of times over the past 15 years, he wanders to the water’s edge, to assess the conditions. The forecast wasn’t great and it hasn’t cleared.
”We’ll need to find the best spot on the lake,” says Walker. “Where it is more sheltered.”
The lake has been the base for New Zealand’s elite women’s team for more than a decade, though it isn’t ideal.
”It’s a challenging place to train, compared to inland Europe,” says Walker. “It’s windy and weedy.”
At around four kilometres, it’s also not that big. Carrington arrives just after 7am, with a cheery “good morning”. She shares a joke with a teammate before they watch one of the juniors balancing precariously beside the pontoon, which is rocking violently.
”Do you wish you had stayed in bed,” asks the Herald.
”Nah… I just wish it was a bit better,” laughs Carrington.
Walker discusses the day’s plan for K4 training with assistant coach Chris Mehak, who used to work with the highly rated Canadian programme. It’s blustery – close to 30 knots – which could make the scheduled set pieces difficult later. But they are optimistic.
”We will find a good spot,” says Walker. “There’s always a good spot.”
As the sun starts to come up, the team have a brief meeting in the shed, which houses more than 100 kayaks. There’s Gisborne-raised Alicia Hoskin, 24, who competed at the last Olympics after overcoming a serious heart condition as a teenager. There’s Tara Vaughan, 20, who grew up in Auckland and only made her international debut in May 2022. Olivia Brett, 23, a former gymnast from Christchurch leans on her paddle while Carrington makes some adjustments to her sleek, custom-made kayak. Paralympian Corbin Hart, 29, who often trains with the K4 squad, is sporting a Redcliffe Dolphins singlet – “I just wanted a new team to support,” he tells them.
Walker reminds the group that the Herald will be observing their day but tells them to “just be normal”. ”You mean don’t be normal,” laughs Carrington. The coach reiterates that it is important to be efficient, ahead of the morning’s paddle. And forget about the conditions.
”Try not to complain about the wind,” says Walker. “On a day like today, it’s very important what you vocalise because what comes out of your mouth affects how you feel.”
The athletes head across the lake, with Walker at the rear. His distinctive red kayak, labelled Stumpy, had earlier almost blown away in the wind. It’s the sixth day of the training week and the team complete 6km, in 250m sets, in what is described as a “warm-up session”.
By 9am, the action has moved to the Millennium Institute gym. It starts with a hybrid-volleyball game, where each person has to touch the small ball once. It’s girls versus boys, staff versus athletes and plenty of laughs. Walker hits the bar on match point, which prompts plenty of laughter from Carrington and the others.
”It’s a warm-up, but also fun,” says strength and conditioning guru Simon Chatterton. “And everyone can be equal.”
There is hope for some personal bests today. It’s a priming session, with low reps and high weights. And it all matters, as there is a strong correlation between strength work and output on the water. The music, from a playlist selected by Carrington and Hart, pumps out, while the athletes visit various stations. Massive medicine balls are slammed on the ground, while twisting, exhibiting the core strength. Another station has a vertical jump, as they propel 36 inches from a standing position.
It’s a positive environment, with each kayaker stopping to watch the other, as they strain for more. The key exercise is the bench pull, as they lie face down on a horizontal bench and lever a barbell – heaving with plates – towards them.
’It’s a vital one for kayakers,” says Chatterton. “That’s the functional strength.”
The gym echoes to the sound of metal plates and encouragement. ‘Go Tara – easy’: ‘Alicia – just need a little bit more – let’s go girl’: ‘You got it Liv’. Carrington is the elder of the team and makes her presence felt, spending as much time encouraging everyone else as on her programme. And she sets the standard. As Carrington grips the bar, the cheers start. The 35-year-old doesn’t disappoint, flinging a huge weight against the top of the bench, with a clunk.
”You could have done one more,” observes Walker. Carrington adds on 3kg and tries again – and just misses – with a sliver of air between the bar and the bench. After everyone else rotates through, there’s one more attempt and Carrington nails it. After all these years, she is still managing personal bests, while two other members of the squad hit season bests. The squad then reconvene at a local cafe.
”It’s the best part of the day,” says Hoskin. Despite the brutal session coming next – at the end of a six-day week – they are relaxed. Carrington gets the coffee in. Walker is gently ribbed about his Japanese attempts in Tokyo during the last Olympics – mostly for saying “Arigato” at the wrong times – while teammates chide Carrington for being a “real Shore girl”. There’s also talk about Mehak’s running schedule, as he often hits the roads on Sundays for runs of up to 30km.
When we return to the lake at 11am, the wind is gusting near 38 knots. The team do muscle activations upstairs before the plan is discussed. One wonders if they should drive around to the other side of the lake and launch in – given the conditions – but Walker assures it will be fine. Another asks about coming back when they are “fully exhausted”.
”We will make sure people are here at the jetty before you get back across,” says Walker. The coach reminds them to be diligent with warm-ups – “when it is blustery it can be hard to get that feeling” – and the importance of balance. If someone is unsettled before the start, “then take your time” to get it right.
”Today will be a crescendo,” says Walker. “You hit your max after six seconds – just try to maintain it”. And before you go remind yourself why you’re here and why is it important, get yourself ready for that.”
It’s one of the more intense sessions of any block, with 300m paddles at full effort. They set off in pairs, with Walker trailing in a small coach boat. The wash is extraordinary, almost coming up over the pontoon. Hoskin gets halfway across then has to go back, before returning.
Walker turns around to help a youth paddler – whose boat is taking in water – losing his phone in the process. The athlete had taken off without a spray skirt and now his kayak was sinking, in the middle of the lake, fully under the water. There is momentary concern before the situation is righted.
The lake is covered by swans and wind foilers. One foiler is back at her car, bruised and blood oozing from her nose. The Olympic athletes have to dodge them, with the occasional near misses.
“That’s just the way it is,” says Walker. On the water, Vaughan is unhappy with her first attempt. Mehak reassures; “Just move on, move on to the next piece.”
Similarly, Hoskin wasn’t happy with her stability, which meant she was “all arms”. Walker tells her to picture being in a K4. Each paddler pulls in for lactate testing, with team support staff balanced on a small, precarious jetty – covered in mud and moss - taking a drop of blood from the ear lobe after each run, to measure lactic acid levels.
As Carrington pulls down the course, Walker reminds her to keep her hands high, before they compare notes at the end of the run.
”Did you see a difference,” asks Carrington. Later one of the paddlers overbalances in the rough seas and falls in as her teammates watch on, but Walker goes to assist.
Back at base, there is a debrief upstairs. Sitting on one of the old couches, there is plenty of history, with photos of kayaking royalty adorning the walls. A framed poster lists the club’s Olympians, from the first – Don Cooper in Munich and Montreal to the 1980s heroes Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald, to the Rio squad, including Carrington, Caitlin Ryan and Aimee Fisher. Kayaks of different vintages hang from the ceiling.
”It was a real test today, in those conditions,” says Hoskin. “It has inspired me to do more.”
Walker is pleased.
”That was really good; great effort and attitudes from everyone to get that done. That was a really tricky day,” says Walker. “It was training, but there will also be understanding how to deal with difficult conditions. Hopefully, that was an investment.”
Walker reminds them of Monday’s schedule, before grabbing his bag.
”I’ve got to get going,” says Walker. ”You mean you have a life outside kayaking,” laughs Carrington.
A few months later the Herald joins the team again, for a full Friday session on an ugly winter’s day.
It’s 6.30am when the Herald arrives. It’s dark and windy, with threatening rain.
”It’s not looking great,” says Walker, after wandering out to test the breeze. The team complete activations and stretching upstairs, with foam rollers and stretch bands.
”Of all the mornings,” laughs one paddler. “But if you get the layers right it’s probably okay… it will probably take about 10 minutes to warm up though. Another jokes: “Do you think I will need a light on my boat?”
The wind has subsided by 7.15am and the team paddle off into the mist. Today’s 90-minute session is resistance training, using a bungee cord wrapped around the kayak, just in front of the cockpit. It means that form, technique and aerobic capacity will be emphasised, and they won’t be able to go as far, from the same sort of effort. It’s the toughest on water session of the week.
”We can always step it up, but we can’t step it down,” instructs Walker, this time from his kayak. “Hands up, hands up, hips and shoulders… airtime”.
It’s a tough session. One paddler starts to get cramp in her hand, while another admits she pushed too early.
”I don’t think I am going to make it… I went out too hard.”
Carrington is analysing after each run, with a brief chat with Walker. After an hour and a half – with heavy rain midway through – the team return to base.
”Well done,” says Walker. “That was actually quite far for a [bungy session]. This is about as glamorous as it gets. It’s not all about standing on the dais; it’s about coming out in the winter.”
The team head inside for hot showers, though first Carrington takes time to wipe down her kayak.
”She does that every time,” Walker tells the Herald. “No matter if she is freezing or wet through.”
While Walker does an interview, the rest of the team and support staff head meet for a quick cafe lunch, an occasional treat in their schedule.
”Our biggest challenge is getting the most out of the team,” says Walker. “We are not like Hungary who have 30 paddlers who could step into their crews so we need to get everything right. So we are always looking for an extra edge, whether it is physical, gym, motivation, emotion or handling pressure.”
At the cafe, there are jokes about the team’s gym playlist – “We need some more young music” – and the cooking exploits during the overseas trips (bao buns are the current gold standard). I ask how they deal with their early alarm, six days a week.
”You just get used to it, in a rhythm,” said Hoskin. “Even on Sunday mornings, you wake up early. And when the squad is waiting for you, it is just part of doing it.”
At 11am, the team behind the team convene inside the Millennium Institute. Sports science, nutrition, strength and conditioning, physiology, campaign planning, technical support and head coach Walker. There’s a deep dive into the plans and data from the most recent bloc and comparisons are made. Numbers are crunched from every session – on water and in gym – as one measure of progress, with bar graphs produced for each athlete.
”It’s really important to keep healthy over the next two weeks and then build,” observes one attendee. Nothing is left to chance. Even heart rate variability is monitored while wellness measures such as sleep quality, fatigue, muscle soreness and motivation are assessed, along with a tonnage comparison of recent work.
Downstairs, the well-equipped gym is mostly empty as the team arrive for their 1pm session, though trampolinist and Tokyo bronze medallist Dylan Schmidt is there, doing scarcely believable vertical jumps. The team is in a good mood, the air punctuated by laughter. Chatterton takes them through the routine before the work starts.
”They are pretty special humans,” observed lead physiotherapist Jane Knoblock. The weights are impressive. Everyone is having more than their body weight, for at least 10 reps. Carrington is doing that for both the push and pull exercises. And her voice is consistently the loudest, shouting encouragement in between her own sets.
”Go Liv, all the way up. Good job, not much left. Yes, go, that was really good Tara.”
At one point there are nine people around Hoskin, all cheering her on. Carrington finishes with a bang, making the top weight.
”Why were you pissing around with the smaller weights before?”, asks a teammate. ”I was saving myself,” Carrington says with a big smile.
At 4pm the paddlers finish off the day with a cycling session inside the heat chamber, with the temperature set between 36C and 40C. Outside, Walker reflects on the day, which was productive despite the early weather challenges.
”Most days it’s going to be early and it’s going to be dark,” says Walker. “And if you’re pursuing a dream like this, you’ve got to find joy in this stuff. If this part is not fun, it is harder than it needs to be. Or for me, I always try and look at this situation and or any of the training situations and see that this part is still a really important part of the journey. We’re not just trying to get to the end. So having some joy within the challenge is really important.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics’, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
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