Canoe sprinters Lisa Carrington and Aimee Fisher have paddled impressively into the semifinals of the women’s K1 500m.
The Kiwi paddlers posted the two best times of the six heats at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium on Wednesday, with Carrington recording the fastest time of 1 minute 48.51 seconds and Fisher the next best with 1:49.16.
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Carrington, already a five-time Olympic gold medallist and the defending champion in the women's K1 500m, was pushed hard by Selma Konijn of the Netherlands, the only other paddler to go under 1:50, though she finished with 0.077 seconds to spare.
Fisher quickly separated herself from the field in her race and won by nearly four seconds from Argentina’s Brenda Rojas.
“I tried to race as efficiently as possible,” said Carrington. “I’m mindful of the whole week; it’s awesome to be in all three events.”
She said the winds were variable.
“Today we pretty much had a tailwind, whereas yesterday there was a crosswind. You just need to adjust.”
Fisher, who finished fifth in the K4 500 in her only previous Olympic experience, at Rio eight years ago, said it was nice to get the first race under her belt.
“At the start line I felt strong, calm and confident. It was good to be out there.”
Asked about her rivalry with Carrington, Fisher said: “It’s a privilege to be part of it. She is the GOAT (greatest of all time) in our sport, a phenomenal athlete. We all owe her a lot for the influence she’s had.”
Fisher said she was a lot more settled than when she appeared at Rio.
“I was 21, a newcomer and it was all a bit of a circus and I was just trying to take it all in. I learned that competing at the Olympics is a whole different level.”
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