Golden girl casts magic spell at school
Te Rapa Primary School got the opportunity to bask in the golden glow of Olympic kayak champion Lisa Carrington on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old was on hand to share her Rio experience of winning gold in the K1 200m and bronze in the K1 500m and hoped to inspire some future possible Olympians.
Both the senior and junior pupils assembled to ask Carrington questions, ranging from ‘‘Who do you look up to?’’ to ‘‘What goes through your mind when you are on the start line?’’
Carrington, who was wearing her medals, was more than happy to share her inner thoughts and gruelling training schedule.
‘‘It’s very sweet, with my sport I don’t come across a lot of kids and seeing them here is pretty special. Hopefully something I said sparks something, it will be amazing if they take something on board.’’
Carrington looked up to former double Olympic champion swimmer Danyon Loader when she was coming through the ranks and is still coming to grips that she is now the next generation’s idol.
‘‘It’s crazy, it’s hard to put myself in a similar light because you put people like that on such a pedestal. Time will tell whether or not I am an inspiration, but that is all I can hope for is to impact someone in a positive way,’’ Carrington said.
‘‘It’s definitely grounding, you do get stuck in a bubble when you are trying to achieve something, but to come back and remember that there are a lot of people trying to do their own thing, and you see that through these kids growing up, it’s pretty cool’’.
Twelve-year-old Chloe Benson enjoyed the opportunity to meet someone she looks up to. ‘‘It’s an honour to have an Olympian here, it gave us a little insight into what it’s like to be an Olympian and what to strive for at this age.’’
Carrington is a huge fan of the Waikato as a good place to grow the sport of kayaking.
‘‘Waikato has an amazing river and Lake Karapiro as well. We have so many lakes and rivers on our doorstep so we may as well use them, especially in a sporting way. I think it’s a positive way to use our environment.’’
Carrington is not ready to hang up the paddle and is already looking ahead to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.