Funders High Performance Sport has channelled $1.2 million into canoe racing last year and $1.6 million this year. The sport has been given Tier 1 ranking, and much of the increased investment is due to Carrington's success.
Upon receiving her Halberg Supreme award last Thursday, the athlete was looking forward to new challenges and targets over the next four years culminating in Tokyo 2020.
At 27 and with two Olympic golds, one bronze and five world championships behind her, finding stimulus and goals for her career's next stage is vital.
She has been quoted as saying: "It's really hard to stay at the top because you have to keep forging new boundaries and new paths but that is what I like doing ..."
She also said: "I turn up and enjoy what I do."
Carrington has been "turning up" since she was a kid.
Whakatane's finest was born in Tauranga, raised in Opotiki and Ohope Beach, and is of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki and Ngati Porou descent.
She was a netballer in winter and surf life saver in summer and it was her dad who suggested she try the kayak to help progress the latter.
Carrington's win last week couldn't have gone to a better role model. Effortlessly charming, with a winning grin turned into a grimace while racing, she is proof that determination and effort - with a dose of innate talent - will triumph.
