Carrington wins five-in-a-row
Five world cup gold medals in three weeks have champion New Zealand kayaker Lisa Carrington in a confident mood as the world championships loom.
Carrington backed up her K1 500m gold with victory over the 200m sprint distance on Lake Bagsvaerd near Copenhagen in Denmark on Sunday (NZT Monday).
The 25-year-old New Zealand paddler romped home, finishing more than a second clear of Austrian Yvonne Schuring and Kazakhstani Inna Klinova.
It was her fifth title in the last three weeks of world cup competition, never losing a race across a variety of courses and conditions, and she heads home this week delighted with her progress a year out from the defence of her Olympic gold medal.
‘‘It just gives me a lot of confidence that what I’m doing is working well,’’ Carrington said.
‘‘Obviously there’s some things we can work on and it’s great to race because then it exposes those things that aren’t as good as they need to be.
‘‘I’m not 100 per cent sure what I need to do from now to world champs, but we’ll be working over the next few days to figure out what I can do and what I can figure out in the past that has worked.’’
Carrington clocked 40.928secs in the sprint final, with Schuring more than a full boat-length back in 42.240.
Her successful campaign earns her a total of four days out of the boat with a training session scheduled on Friday back in Auckland, before she begins preparations for August’s world championships in Italy.
‘‘This campaign has been pretty tough because it’s been three weeks in a row. There’s a lot I can learn and it’s good for me to know I can back up racing week after week,’’ Carrington said.
Carrington and Marty McDowell were the only New Zealanders to compete in the third world cup, with McDowell finishing eighth in the K1 1000m final.
It added to the success of the K4 women’s crew of Jaimee Lovett, Caitlin Ryan, Aimee Fisher and Kayla Imrie in the first two world cups, picking up gold, silver and bronze medals between them, while sprinter Scott Bicknell also notched a personal best.