The Post

Carrington in crewsmode

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Expect to see more of Lisa Carrington in crew boats over the coming years.

The dual Olympic gold medallist in the women’s K1 200 class excelled at the recent canoe sprint world championsh­ips in the Czech Republic, collecting medals in all four events she contested.

That raised the prospect that the 28-year-old could continue to shine individual­ly while also becoming a fixture in New Zealand’s K2 and K4 canoes as plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics take shape.

Carrington said she wanted to do ‘‘as many as possible’’ events over the next few years, but is also aware a condensed Olympics race programme may limit her capabiliti­es.

‘‘It’s partly a matter of what I’ll be able to do,’’ said Carrington, who may have to contest races with as little as 40 minutes break between them at Tokyo should she stay in crew boats.

‘‘But I want to do what’s best for the sport, and for New Zealand.’’

In Racice, Carrington maintained her dominance in the K1 200 event by winning her sixth consecutiv­e world championsh­ip gold, to go with the Olympics golds she won over the shortest distance at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

She also teamed up with Caitlin Ryan to win gold in the K2 500, claimed silver in the K1 500 and bronze in the K4 500 with Ryan, Kayla Imrie and Aimee Fisher.

Carrington said contesting four events over four days wasn’t as taxing as she initially expected it to be and felt her vast experience of racing at the highest level helped her cope.

‘‘I obviously spent a bit more time in crew boats forming combinatio­ns, but my own training didn’t change much.

‘‘I was just able to train harder this year, like I have in recent years - I’ve been able to push myself harder as I’ve got stronger and fitter over the years.’’

Carrington tried to keep expectatio­ns measured in her venture into the unknown. ‘‘I knew pretty much what I wanted from my individual events, which was to race as well as I could.

‘‘With crew boats races, there’s a lot more things that can happen when there’s more than just one of you. So I didn’t have specific goals, but I was hoping we’d do well and it turned out we did great.’’

 ?? PHOTO: PHOTOSPORT ?? Lisa Carrington, front, and Caitlin Ryan won gold in the women’s K2 500m event at the Canoe Sprint World Championsh­ips in the Czech Republic.
PHOTO: PHOTOSPORT Lisa Carrington, front, and Caitlin Ryan won gold in the women’s K2 500m event at the Canoe Sprint World Championsh­ips in the Czech Republic.

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