Smoke on the water
occurred some two to three years after this initial period of transition.
The most recent departee, Aimee Fisher, left Walker’s squad in May, prompting a seven-month stand-off with the national body as she attempted to get management to address her concerns about the training and coaching environment.
Fisher, New Zealand’s top
women’s prospect behind Carrington, last week informed Canoe Racing NZ she is not putting her name forward for selection for the Tokyo Olympics, as she believed management had failed to put in appropriate measures to protect her safety.
Despite concerns about the management of Canoe Racing NZ’S high performance programme having repeatedly been raised for more than three years, the high incidence of serious athlete welfare issues, and the mass exodus of athletes – including Fisher, a genuine Olympic medal hope – the environment has never been subject to an external investigation.
Former elite rower Nathan Twaddle, who in his previous role at High Performance Sport NZ worked with some of the canoe sprint athletes as an athlete life adviser, believes it is time a proper independent inquiry is undertaken.
For privacy reasons, Twaddle declined to comment on his experiences working with the programme, stating only that there were ‘‘some pretty serious conversations happening high up’’ regarding how it was being managed.
‘‘My view is they need to take the costs and get someone independent to actually come in and do an investigation,’’ the Olympic bronze medallist said.
‘‘If I had one point looking in now from the outside it would be an independent investigation will always trump a ‘hey, we’ve looked at it and we’re happy’. That doesn’t fly. Particularly if it’s at a point it seems to be at now.’’
In August, after athletes spoke out about the environment to Stuff, High Performance Sport NZ commissioned prominent sports lawyer Don Mackinnon to conduct an audit of its ‘‘systems and processes’’ for escalating serious athlete wellbeing issues. His report is expected to be finalised in the new year.
Canoe Racing NZ is also undertaking consultative work on its systems and policies, along with providing an independent avenue for past and present athletes to share their feedback on the women’s programme.
Stuff put questions to former Canoe Racing NZ chief executive Mark Weatherall, but he declined to respond, saying ‘‘it wasn’t appropriate to comment at this time’’.