Kayaking Golden Girl Does It Again!

Sunday 29 May 2011

Kayaking Golden Girl Does It Again!

The excitement on the banks of the Wedau Race Course, Duisburg, was off the charts as the Kiwis cheered their “pocket rocket” Lisa Carrington to a gold medal in the K1 200m today in the ICF World Champs 3. She may be diminutive in stature, but this little powerhouse really knows how to give it her all.

Her usually explosive start was fractionally slower than normal out of the blocks, but this only served to fuel Lisa’s determination. Coach Gordon Walker says “Lisa has a high max speed and a lot of natural qualities, but she has been training hard for endurance and power, and that’s what paid off in this race. She gained the lead by the 100m mark, and while others were dropping back, she just powered on. “

Of her race Lisa says “I didn’t feel the start was as good as it should have been, but I had no time to think about it. I was pretty confident at half-way that I had that slight lead and knew I had to keep the pressure on right to the end “. She commented “winning in the K1 200m is particularly satisfying as it’s an Olympic Event and that’s where my focus is”.

Lisa couldn’t quite pull off the same feat in the K2 500m, and with partner Teneale Hatton had to settle for 8th. Although making the A final is, in itself, quite an achievement, with only a forty minute break after Lisa’s K1 200m win a higher placing was not to be. Lisa and Teneale won gold in the K2 1000m event at World Cup 1 in 2010.

Another 8th in an A final was handed to Steven Ferguson and Darryl Fitzgerald in their K2 1000m. Qualifying as the fourth fastest crew they had, however, expected to place higher up the ladder.
Carrington’s gold has given the whole New Zealand team a lift as they head home tomorrow to review the World Cup results and plan their attack on the ICF World Championships to be held in August in Szeged, Hungary.

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