Top paddler in talks to rejoin national squad
World champion paddler Aimee Fisher is in talks to return to Canoe Racing NZ’s elite women’s squad, two years after quitting the national programme and walking away from Olympic selection.
Fisher is due to meet Canoe Racing NZ officials next week to discuss a potential return to the women’s squad – a move that could pave the way for the 27-year-old to rejoin the team boat programme, although she says her focus will remain on the K1 500m event.
The development signals a thawing of tensions between Fisher and the national body, who have endured an adversarial relationship for much of the past two years.
In 2020 the Hawke’s Bay paddler, and New Zealand’s top canoe sprint exponent behind the peerless Dame Lisa Carrington, took the extraordinary step of withdrawing from selection contention for the Tokyo Olympics following a seven-month stand-off with the national body over athlete welfare concerns.
Managing her own programme, Fisher went on to claim the world championship crown in the K1 500m in Denmark last year. But it wasn’t until Fisher upset Carrington at the national championships in April that she captured the attention of the wider public.
Carrington eventually won a best-of-three showdown for the single berth at the world championships in Canada next month.
But Fisher’s ability to match it virtually stroke-for-stroke with Carrington over the three races made her a cause celebre for athletes charting their own path.
Despite her remarkable success over the past two years taking a self-led approach, Fisher believes to achieve her goals in the sport she needs stronger resource and infrastructure around her.
‘‘The way I see it is, I made a stand. I walked away from the opportunity to go to the Tokyo Olympics. I’ve managed to run this campaign in a way that got me right to the top, and now I want to be able to take that next step,’’ says Fisher.
‘‘I’m ready to work together with Canoe Racing NZ. Some people might see that as backing down, but there’s only a small window where you get to be an athlete and chase your dream. I have big goals in the sport, and when it comes time to step away I want to know that I have done all I could to achieve them.’’
Fisher is reluctant to publicly discuss the flashpoints that led to her exit from the national environment, which followed a string of other departures from the women’s squad. But she says the findings of an inquiry into Cycling NZ after Olivia Podmore’s death had lessons for all high performance environments – which she hopes have been heeded.
‘‘A lot has happened over the past two years, and I find myself in a position now where I want to move on, I want to engage with [Canoe Racing NZ] and see what we can do moving forward and to be a part of that change,’’ she says.
‘‘But I’m very clear on what my values are, and I won’t bend on those so I guess that will be part of the discussion.’’
Canoe Racing NZ chief executive Tom Ashley declined to be interviewed about the latest developments with Fisher, stating he did not believe it would be appropriate to discuss any individual athletes’ dealings with the national body.
The return of Fisher would be a significant boost to the women’s squad. Having arguably the two fastest K1 paddlers in the world opens up a range of possibilities for Olympic medals across multiple boats in Paris. However, Fisher is clear she would need to earn her place in the women’s team boats, adding youngsters Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan had performed strongly at recent World Cup events.*