New Zealand has the opportunity to win gold and silver in the same event.
A “clash of the titans” is how canoe racing world champion Aimee Fisher recently described her upcoming K1-500 Olympic race against teammate Dame Lisa Carrington. On the water, it will make for quite the spectacle – the duo has gone head to head a lot in the last few years. Fisher pipped former boatmate Carrington in a photo finish to take the title at the World Cup in May but it was Carrington that was on top last year when she claimed the only New Zealand spot at the World Championships.
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, Dame Lisa Carrington is the “face” of canoe racing in Aotearoa. The 35-year-old is New Zealand’s most decorated Olympian with six medals, including five gold. She is currently the second fastest woman in the K1-500 behind 29-year-old Fisher.
Fisher, originally from Hawke’s Bay, first burst onto the international scene in 2013 at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, where she secured a gold medal in the K2-200 and a silver in the K2-500. She was in the K4-500 boat at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where the team finished fifth, but stepped away from the high performance environment, missing the Tokyo Olympics.
While Carrington might be the “face”, Fisher is the poster athlete for “racing your own race”.
The backstory
Fisher was among a group of women who stepped away from the high-performance canoe racing squad in 2019 and 2020, after welfare concerns were raised. Allegations of bullying, intimidation, and psychological abuse were made public, with some athletes alleging they were left broken, burnt out and dealing with serious mental health issues.
Canoe Racing NZ (CRNZ) and High Performance Sport NZ (HPSNZ) were criticised for their focus on medals over athlete welfare. When the allegations were made public in 2020, CRNZ strenuously denied a culture of bullying or harassment. Other athletes within the setup said they were well-supported and did not experience what was being alleged.
However, a secret report finally released in 2022, showed High Performance Sport psychologists had serious concerns about the environment.
Throughout this process it was reported Fisher went through meetings with senior management and mediation with a coach. Ultimately she found support back at her club, the North Shore Canoe Club, under the tutelage of three-time CRNZ coach of the year Gavin Elmiger, who is coaching Samoa at the Paris Olympics. He is known for his “person first” approach where elite athletes train side by side with grassroots paddlers.
The preparation
Centralised programmes are commonplace in the high performance sport world. The likes of rowing and cycling are based in Cambridge, then there’s the HPSNZ headquarters on Auckland’s North Shore. You’ll find swimmers and track and field athletes, among others, there.
These programmes bring athletes, coaches and support staff together – including physios, doctors and psychologists – along with access to necessary facilities, but, as highlighted in the independent review following the death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore, centralised programmes can have a negative impact on the wellbeing of athletes. It can isolate them from family and support networks.
In 2018, a $2.3m high performance canoe racing training centre was opened at Lake Karapiro, near Cambridge, built off the back of Carrington’s success, to help push canoe racing forward. However, she didn’t want to relocate, so the women stayed in a centralised programme in Auckland, with coach Gordon Walker.
But what might work for some, doesn’t work for everyone and that set up did not work for Fisher, or for the five others who stepped away from the programme in 2019/20.
After she left the set-up, it’s understood she established her own training regime and spent time with Elmiger, while also mentoring young club paddlers. In the build up to the games, Fisher has been paddling her own race and since the World Cup in Hungary in May she’s spent time at training camps in Europe, including time in Italy “fine tuning” before the games.
Is it possible to succeed outside the High Performance Sport NZ set up? Fisher’s already proved she can pip Carrington at the post under the guidance of a different coach, but it’s all about peaking at the right time.
The expectations
Could Aotearoa be in for a gold-silver double in the K1-500? Heck yea! Carrington already has a bronze from Rio 2016 and gold in Tokyo 2020 for this event, and has topped the podium four times at the World Championships in K1-500. She’s strong and dominant. But Fisher won gold at the 2021 World Champs – following a tough year for her – and currently holds the world record for the fastest time in the discipline. She set a world’s best time of 1:46.19 at the World Champs in May.
The pair will also go head to head in the K2-500, while Carrington will also race in the K4-500.
The rivalry
So is there actually a rivalry? Great question! Carrington follows Fisher on social media, so that’s a good start and the duo are often photographed hugging post-race. Make of that what you will.
Following her World Cup victory, Fisher had nothing but praise for Carrington, who she beat by just half a second. “What an epic contest… how exciting for the Olympics,” she said.
“On the day, who knows which way it’s going to go … it’s going to be damn good!”
How to witness it
Racing starts tonight (Tuesday August 6) from 8pm NZ time, with Carrington up first in the K4-500 heats with teammates Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan and Olivia Brett. Later in the evening Carrington and Hoskin pair up for the K2-500, and we’ll get our first chance to see Fisher in action with Lucy Matehaere in the same event.
The “battle of the titans” in the K1-500 starts on Wednesday night. Fisher is up first in heat one, while Carrington is in heat five. Both will be expected to advance for a final showdown.
