Another stellar year for Kiwi
Paddler supreme Lisa Carrington took to her new challenge like a duck to water in 2013.
The London Olympic gold medallist in the K1 200m women’s canoe sprint event in 2012 added the 500m event to her regular schedule this year, and found immediate success.
The 24-year-old from Bay of Plenty won gold in her specialist distance at three regattas on the World Cup circuit, in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland.
And, after winning the B final over 500m in Hungary, she captured gold in the A final at the next two meets.
She backed up that rapid transformation claiming bronze over 500m at the world champs at Duisburg, Germany, in August before keeping her mantle as the world’s best over 200m by pipping Poland’s Marta Walczykiewicz by 0.190 seconds.
Buoyed by her success, Carrington looks to maintain that schedule as she eyes contesting both events at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Carrington got company this year as world champion by another Kiwi woman paddler.
North Shore’s Teneale Hatton dominated the women’s K1 5000m event in Duisburg as part of her emergence as another potential medal contender for Rio 2016.
Hatton then won the women’s under-23 K1 gold at the ICF World Marathon Canoe champs in Denmark before finishing seventh in the women’s open final, just 21 seconds behind the bronze medallist, the following day.
Hatton also captured the under23 women’s division title at the Ocean Surf Ski champs in Portugal in July.
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