Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan won the K4 500 gold at the Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg. Photo: Duisburg2023
New Zealand kayaking has three new world champions, as the Kiwi women's K4 crew claimed a historic win in their 500m event at the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint & Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg overnight.
The seemingly unstoppable Lisa Carrington, who picked up her 14th world championship gold medal, and her young team mates Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan, are the first K4 from New Zealand, male or female, to win a world championship title.
"I'm just so proud of them." Carrington told onsite commentary post race. "We've worked so hard. This is what teamwork does."
The NZ team won in a time of 1.30.606, just under a second ahead of Poland in 1.31.320. Spain took home the bronze medal.
The result has qualified a New Zealand's women's K4 boat for the 2024 Olympics, meaning there will be at least 4 female kayakers in the NZ team at Paris. Canoe Racing NZ are aiming for the maximum quota of 6 women, with K2 pair Aimee Fisher and Danielle McKenzie also seeking qualification.
"That was an absolute masterclass of a performance from our women." said Nathan Luce, General Manager of Performance at Canoe Racing NZ. "It was an outstanding race. They made history here tonight. Rising to the occasion and delivering an incredible performance."
However there was disappointment for the Men's K4 crew of Max Brown, Zach Ferkins, Kurtis Imrie and Hamish Legarth, who failed to advance to the 500m A final, ending their Olympic qualification hopes.
The team were 4th in their semi final when a top three result was required to earn a spot in the 9 boat A final. Agonizingly, their time of 1.19.864 was the 6th fastest semi final time.
Germany went on to win the K4 500m World Championship title, with Hungary second and Ukraine third. The NZ men raced off in the B Finals, where they finished 4th (13th overall).
Lisa Carrington, Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan in the K4 500 final. Photo: Duisburg2023
Scott Martlew's fourth place finish in the men's KL2 200m A final saw him just outside of the medal podium but he secured a boat spot at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.
"Scotty had an incredible race and pushed for the medal right to the last stroke." said Luce.
"Fourth is a tough pill to swallow but he did the job for New Zealand, and qualified the boat for the Paralympics. Mix of emotions tonight because unfortunately for the K4 men, their qualifying dreams are over."
The NZ men's kayak team will turn their attention to qualifying K1 and K2 boats for Paris at the Oceania Championships in Penrith in March.
Paracanoe teammate Corbin Hart advanced to the KL3 200m A final where he finished in 9th place. He'll have another chance at next year's World Cup to secure a Paralympics quota.
Ashton Reiser impressed in his hotly contested men's K1 500m semi final. The fifth place finish saw him head to the B final where he came home in 2nd place, 11th overall in the event.
Tonight Aimee Fisher and Danielle McKenzie will race competitively for the second time ever as a duo in the women's K2 500m semi final. Their sights firmly set on earning a place in the A final. Given their outstanding heat performance, after only weeks of training together, they are in with a good chance.
Lisa Carrington will be back on the water on Saturday too, looking to earn her 19th World Championship medal in the K1 500m A final at 10.21pm NZT.