Caitlin Ryan, Aimee Fisher, Kayla Imrie and Lisa Carrington (L-R) of New Zealand after crossing the finish line. Photo / Photosport
Caitlin Ryan, Aimee Fisher, Kayla Imrie and Lisa Carrington (L-R) of New Zealand after crossing the finish line. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand's women's kayaking team have rocketed to prominence on the world stage in the last six years.
They are now among the most successful countries in the women's disciplines. Requests for memorabilia relating to the women's group come to Canoe Racing New Zealand from around the world.
Yet it wasn't that long ago they didn't figure at all. How come the rapid transformation?
With double Olympic champion Lisa Carrington the stellar figure and the women's game in rude health courtesy of Caitlin Ryan, Aimee Fisher and Kayla Imrie, and with a younger batch of kayakers coming through behind the 'Big Four' these are rosy times for the sport.
In the last five world championships from 2011, New Zealand women have won 13 medals, nine of them gold. Carrington has won 11 (either solo or as part of a team), Teneale Hatton bagged two K1 1000m titles, Caitlin Ryan (two), Kayla Imrie and Aimee Fisher.
This year, in cup regattas at Hungary and Germany, a total of seven gold medals were won by the four across single, two-seater and four-seater disciplines. Carrington and Ryan were finalists for the sports team of the year at last year's Halberg Awards.
It's easy to say the Carrington factor is the main catalyst but there have been a couple of other events which have been significant too.
A women's K4, including former world surf ski champion Katie Pocock went to the world championships in 2003 and were lined up to compete at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, only to be sidelined by an eligibility issue for one paddler. That suggested there was talent if it could be harnessed correctly.
The High Performance Sport New Zealand Sportswoman Of The Year Lisa Carrington with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Photosport
Or think four years later with North Shore's Erin Taylor became the country's first female kayak Olympic representative in Beijing, finishing fifth in the K1 500m semifinal, then seventh in the K2 500m with Carrington at London in 2012.
Or how about 2011 when Carrington surprised the paddling world by racing to the K1 200m world championship title. She's never been beaten over the distance.
Add in a key policy shift in 2013-14 when Canoe Racing New Zealand decided to focus on developing a team culture, which effectively meant K4.
The women's programme was centralised in Auckland, another important step. What had been very much an individual sport had a base being bedded in.
Former Danish international Rene Olsen was appointed to run the women's programme.
"I'm 100 percent focused on putting together a K4 and I think that's the best chance for not only making the Olympics but performing well when we get there," Olsen said in 2014.
"There's a lot of focus on individual strength down here but having a K4 crew boat is different. You can't just take the four best paddlers and make the best boat - you have to think about the different qualities each paddler brings to the boat."
In Rio, the K4 finished fifth in the final. Had they repeated their semifinal-winning time they would have won silver.
Olsen is still well regarded in this country for the work he did, even though he left for a new job in the middle of last year, partly the result of an internal wrangle over how the K4 would be structured. He moved to work with the British canoe programme.
Gordon Walker, who had been Carrington's coach going into the London Games, has taken over as head coach. There are now 20 support staff around the programme.
Names no longer in the squad, such as two-time world K1 1000m paddler Teneale Hatton and Jaimee Lovett, who was de facto leader of the 2016 K4, were important parts in the rise.
There were visits to the Sports Tribunal leading up to the Rio Olympics. Tough battles were fought over selection philosophy. Heads butted, but the fruit can now be seen.
New Zealand on top of the podium after winning gold medal in the women's K4 500m event at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup. Photo / Photosport
This year, in cup regattas at Hungary and Germany, a total of seven gold medals were won by the four across single, two-seater and four-seater disciplines. Carrington and Ryan were finalists for the sports team of the year at last year's Halberg Awards.
Now there is a line of succession being created. Younger paddlers like Rebecca Cole, who earned a spot in the K4 crew in Germany, and pronounced it "amazing, the coolest thing I've ever done" are gaining experience and don't have to look far for inspirational figures.
"Everyone knows Lisa's a true leader," Ryan said. "It's pretty inspirational too for the young girls coming up. She's had a huge impact."
The proof is in the numbers of women paddlers in this country.
From 2011, Carrington's first world title, to 2014 there was an increase of 54 percent among women in the sport; from 2011 to this year the number is up to 79 percent.
Canoe Racing NZ chief executive Tom Ashley has some personal experience of this evolution on his way to winning windsurfing gold at the 2008 Olympics. He believes the top-down model is prevalent in New Zealand sport.
"Because Aaron McIntosh and Bruce and Barbara Kendall were training in Auckland every day I could rock up to training and they were open with invitations to sessions.
"I could see every day what the world's best looks like. That meant you can compare your performance on the water but also see how the best train, solve problems and you see the intensity they bring."
That is what has happened in New Zealand women's kayaking. Now a younger group have come in and when they disperse to their own regions the ripple on effect kicks in.
"There's a psychological side," Ashley added. "'If this girl from my club is achieving that means I can because she's from my town'. A lot of sports have exactly that phenomenon.
