Lisa Carrington and Gordon Walker have formed New Zealand sport's most successful partnership. Photo / Getty
Lisa Carrington and Gordon Walker have formed New Zealand sport's most successful partnership. Photo / Getty
The most successful coach-athlete partnership in New Zealand Olympic history is set to continue, with Gordon Walker committing to another cycle with Canoe Racing New Zealand.
Walker has been Lisa Carrington's long-time mentor since first linking up with the Ohope product back in 2010 and has helped her achieve unprecedented success, including six Olympic medals and 10 world championship titles.
But it has involved considerable personal sacrifice for Walker, who has three children (aged 14, 11 and 10) with his wife Viv.
He has spent the best part of three years away from home across the last decade, with European competitions and campaigns as well domestic camps.
Walker told the Herald in June that his future would be decided after the Tokyo Olympics, admitting that "there were a lot of things to weigh up".
But off the back of Carrington's announcement last week that she would be targeting the 2024 Games in Paris, Walker has confirmed he will also be back on the water.
"We are still working out what the shape of the programme and the sport needs to look like for the next three years and beyond," Walker told the Herald on Sunday. "But my role with Lisa will stay the same."
Gordon Walker trains with Lisa Carrington and Caitlin Regal before the Tokyo Olympics. Photo / Getty
It's a massive boost, as the Walker-Carrington association has been an incredible one, recognised when they were named coach and athlete of the decade respectively at the Halberg Awards earlier his year.
Walker beat Sir Steve Hansen, Dame Noeline Taurua and Dick Tonks for the gong, although he says he struggles with awards based on others' achievements, pointing out that Carrington and Caitlin Regal et al are the ones who "paddle the races".
But there is no doubt that Walker and Carrington have an unique bond and understanding, like Arthur Lydiard and Peter Snell, Arch Jelley and John Walker and Tonks and his various rowers.
It's been the most productive partnership across this country's long Olympic history – and probably in the wider New Zealand sporting arena.
However, despite Carrington's remarkable accomplishments, the next campaign will bring fresh and demanding challenges, especially since the K1 200m is no longer an Olympic event.
"I'm definitely a fan of not going back and doing the same thing over again," says Walker. "It's not a do over. I would really like to do some things a bit differently. Because there is just one distance now, the opportunity to really dive into what makes up the best possible 500 is quite cool. [But] the event is only going to get harder, because there is only one K1 event now, so every single person is chasing one [gold] medal in the K1."
Despite her blistering dominance, especially in the last three years, Walker remains confident that Carrington can further improve. She seemed to reach a new peak with her Tokyo performances, within a gruelling schedule, but Walker says there is more to come.
"It depends how you ask the question," says Walker. "If someone says, 'Is it possible to paddle faster than that?' - You might think, 'Wow, I'm not too sure because, man, that was pretty fast'.
"But if you strip it back and say these are all the things you need to do within a race, do you think any one of these can be improved, then you know there are opportunities."
Walker has a list of up to 10 variables that go into an optimal performance, among them bench press, maximum speed, aerobic performance and core strength.
"We are pretty good at looking at all the elements that lead to someone paddling really well, breaking that down and then looking at an area that can be improved," says Walker. "The work still needs to be done and she needs to do it but is it possible? Yes. Definitely."
Along with his coaching role across the women's team, Walker was appointed CRNZ's first technical director in March 2019, with a broader mandate across the men's and women's programme.
Walker is unsure if the technical director role will continue in its current form, or who might fill it, as discussions are ongoing within CRNZ, but there had been payoffs.
"Having an agreed centralised programme was a really beneficial thing for the sport," says Walker. "We really want to keep that but how we shape things up moving forward to maximise the talents of all the staff we have is something we are working on."
CRNZ chief executive Tom Ashley agreed, adding that it was too early to discuss specific job titles.
"[Our] leadership in the technical performance aspects of kayaking has become a real strength," says Ashley. "We have created this unified approach and a solid performance science approach. We need to hold onto that."
Canoe coach Gordon Walker returns from training on Lake Pupuke this year. Photo / Getty
Currently Walker and Nathan Luce look after the women's programme, backed up by Jasper Bats, while Tim Brabants heads up the men's area, with support from CRNZ development lead Craig Mustard.
Ashley emphasised that it is a collective approach, though there were designated roles, with Luce supporting Regal in her K1 efforts in Tokyo, as she raced at the same time as Carrington.
"We don't have coaches working in competition," said Ashley. "It's a team coaching approach; they all work together to do the best for all of the athletes. It offers flexibility and allows us to get the best out of all the coaches."
A flashpoint during the last cycle was the departure of Aimee Fisher from the programme in December 2020, ruling herself out of the Tokyo Olympics, after a standoff between her and CRNZ couldn't be resolved.
Fisher then won the K1 500m title at the World Championships earlier this month, beating two Tokyo medallists in the process. It's not yet known if she will return.
"The door is definitely open," says Ashley. "Certainly we were really happy to see Aimee's success in Denmark and we have been in touch since then and we will have to see how that unfolds."
"We are open to what the future holds for all paddlers, and Aimee is obviously involved in that," says Walker. "But one thing we are really sure about is that a team approach is going to be really important."
Overall, Ashley is bullish about the future, off the back of the remarkable Tokyo performances.
"We are in an incredibly fortunate position with the athletes we have in New Zealand," says Ashley. "It is a once in a lifetime confluence of amazing athletes in one country."
