Aimee Fisher has further cemented her place as Lisa Carrington's heir apparent after a commanding performance at the New Zealand canoe racing championship at Lake Karapiro.
The 22-year-old Hawke's Bay paddler capitalised on Carrington's absence from individual boats at the three-day regatta by winning the K1 200 and 500m double.
Fisher's reward is likely to be a spot racing alongside the world and Olympic champion on the ICF World Cup series this year although she was more delighted with the mental breakthrough that she made with her twin wins.
"Coming into this weekend, my only goal was to be brave in the 500m and that's the first time I've ever managed to do it in a race," Fisher said, after heading off Olympic K4 teammate Caitlin Ryan (North Shore) by 0.80secs in the final.
"Every other time, I'd chicken out but I've done a couple of 500s at training where I'd been getting the hang of it, being aggressive off the line. To do that in race conditions, that was the real test. Caitlin and I had a great battle in the first half of the race and I managed to bring it home."
