Carrington hailed as ‘best in world’
Gordon Walker, coach of supreme Halberg Award winner Lisa Carrington, says New Zealand is only starting to realise just how talented the kayak queen is.
Nominated every year since 2011, Carrington’s phenomenal achievements were finally rewarded at the country’s premier sports awards on Thursday when she was crowned sportswoman of the year before taking out the overall prize.
In defending her K1 200m Olympic title and claiming bronze in the K1 500m, Carrington created history in Rio last year by becoming the first Kiwi woman to win multiple medals at a single Games.
It was a continuation of a remarkable run by the 27-year-old who has been on a tear in the shorter distance since 2011, winning four-straight world championships while adding the 500m title to her CV in 2015.
Carrington has no plans to stop anytime soon but Walker believes she has already established herself as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
‘‘I think it’s hard for New Zealanders to understand how good she really is,’’ Walker said.
‘‘Even if she doesn’t go on and do anything else, even as good as she has been, is incredible. No other [individual kayaker] has won two [world championship] medals every year for four years.’’
It was a golden night for Team Carrington with Walker’s role in her success recognised by receiving the coach of the year award.
Zimbabwe-born Walker joined Canoe Racing New Zealand’s highperformance programme in 2010 and while Carrington’s talent was clearly evident, it is fair to say she has exceeded expectations.
‘‘When I first met her there’s no way that I would’ve known she would have been as good as she is,’’ he added.
‘‘She is probably the best single kayaker, male or female, in the world. She comes [to training] every day wanting to become a better athlete and a better person and as long as she keeps doing that she’ll continue to be great.’’
The challenge now for the pair is to find a way to improve on such success over the next Olympic cycle. But that process is well under way with Carrington and Walker heading straight back to training yesterday.
‘‘It’s not really about staying at the top.
‘‘I think the minute you do that you’ll find you’re suddenly beside somebody else instead of in front of them,’’ Walker said.
‘‘One of the important concepts we have in the campaign is change – adapt or die. As good as she is, you can become is a victim of your own success and you get used to doing things.
‘‘So it’s trying to change the plan strategically so that it is fresh and and it is different and you’re taking a few risks, which is hard when you get good.’’