Hoskin hoping for longterm combination
WELLINGTON: New Zealand paddler Alicia Hoskin is hoping to form a lasting combination with canoeing great Dame Lisa Carrington.
The pair competed together for the first time in claiming bronze in the K2 500 at last weekend’s world cup regatta in the Czech Republic and will compete again at the second world cup in Poland this weekend.
Hoskin has been the junior member of the team for the past year, but with a couple of retirements she is now being looked at as the future of the sport for the next Olympic cycle.
The 22yearold competed at her first Olympics in Tokyo last year, finishing fourth in the K4 500 and made the B final of the K2 500.
Now she has teamed up with Carrington in the K2 500.
‘‘It’s such an awesome opportunity and I feel extremely grateful to be paddling with Lisa.
‘‘She offers so much experience and I’m learning so much with her even though I’ve been in the team with her for a number of years now,’’ Hoskin said.
It is also a new situation for Carrington who has now moved from the front of the boat to the back.
‘‘I haven’t stroked for Lisa for a really long time so we’re still learning and finding ways to use our speed and how best we work together.
‘‘Using her speed means we can fly off the start line and then I’m really just trying to optimise her down the course using her power, so it’s awesome.
‘‘Lisa is the engine to what I’m setting up [as the stroke] so my role is a bit more technical and Lisa is pure power and speed.’’
Being that close to New Zealand’s most successful Olympian is not lost on Hoskin. ‘‘It’s awesome, I love it.’’ Hoskin said she was s enjoying the challenge of her new role and the pressure that came with it and was gaining in confidence during this world cup campaign.
‘‘I’m just trying to soak up as much as I can from the time I have with Lisa.
‘‘You can never take for granted what she has achieved and so we’re always trying to learn from her.’’
Hoskin and Carrington, along with 18yearold Tara Vaughn and Olivia Brett, made the K4 final last weekend.
The aim is to finalise the best combinations before the world championships in Canada in August.
‘‘We’re using the world cups to trial a few different combinations and seats, working out ways to optimise each other and get the best out of each other.’’
Last weekend’s Czech regatta was their first international event together and Hoskin is sure they can take plenty of that into the Poland competition this weekend.
‘‘We took a lot of confidence from that and we nailed down a few things that really worked for us as a crew while we’re also looking at a few opportunities we can take into this weekend that will hopefully make us faster.’’ — RNZ