How Lisa Carrington and New Zealand kayaking team have passed a vital examination as they head to Olympic test event

Dame Lisa Carrington celebrates after winning the K1 W 200 final. Photo / Getty Images

Dame Lisa Carrington and the New Zealand kayaking team are in Paris this week for an Olympic test event – but they have already passed a big examination.

That was the overwhelming sentiment after the conclusion of the world championships in Germany on Sunday.

Not everything went to plan, especially with the men’s K4 missing out on Olympic qualification, after a lot of pre-event emphasis on that discipline.

But there was plenty to like, highlighted by the extraordinary performance of the women’s K4 500m crew, who stunned several favoured nations to take gold. In the process they became the first non-European quartet to take out the blue riband event, which dates back to 1963 at world championship level.

Carrington anchored that crew, then maintained her superiority in the individual disciplines, recording the fourth K1 200m/K1 500m double of her career. Aimee Fisher and Danielle McKenzie managed an impressive showing in the K2 500m, after an extremely short time together, qualifying for the A final and only missing an Olympic ticket by 0.4 of a second.

It shows that things are on track, less than a year out from the 2024 games, especially in the women’s programme. That’s despite the retirement of Tokyo gold medallist Caitlin Regal, along with fellow Olympians Teneale Hatton and Kayla Imrie. The K4 quartet of Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan underlined their immense potential, after first teaming up less than 18 months ago.

New Zealand women's K4 crew of Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan celebrate 2023 world championship success.

”To be a smaller minnow of a nation and to beat the big nations is pretty cool,” said Canoe Racing New Zealand high performance boss Nathan Luce. “We have always punched above our weight but the fours are the tough ones to get because it requires a lot of depth, so what they did was pretty spectacular.”

”You get a whole new respect from the European countries when you win a four. They are in awe of Lisa but when they see that, they want to know, what are you guys doing, how do you guys do that?”

Carrington is still the key – with her power, precision and pedigree – but the improvement from her young teammates has been remarkable, especially as Vaughan and Brett only started paddling at this level last year.

The 34-year-old Carrington remains imperious in the single seater. She won the K1 500m final in convincing fashion – beating both Tokyo medallists in the process – then blew away the field in the K1 200m on Sunday.

It’s no longer an Olympic event, thanks to IOC politics, but Carrington has maintained her standards. It can’t be easy with the passage of time and one of her K1 200m rivals on Sunday was only 9 when Carrington claimed gold in London in 2012.

But Carrington, who set the fastest time across the three semifinals, was never going to be beaten, with the eight other paddlers essentially competing for silver. The Kiwi blasted out of the gate, building a considerable advantage within the first 50m. She accelerated from there and crossed more than a second ahead of Australian Yale Steinpreis, with Poland’s Dominika Putto in third.

Dame Lisa Carrington at the 2023 world championships.

It was Carrington’s 15th world championship gold medal and the 22nd time she has been on the podium.

Earlier Fisher and McKenzie were eighth in their A final, a reminder of the ability of Fisher to make any boat go fast.

”They had an amazing race, for where they were at a few weeks ago,” said Luce. “For them to make the final and come some close to qualification is insane, considering how much work the European crews have put into getting those results. We just threw together a new crew and it was a hail mary and we almost pulled it off.”

New Zealand will get another chance to qualify a K2 quota – and a second boat – at the Oceania championships next March.

That will also be the pathway for a men’s K2 crew, with their K4 dream shelved until 2028. New Zealand had targeted three Paralympic quota spots in Germany and only achieved one (through Scott Martlew) but there are further international opportunities in those classes next year.

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.