Latest news with #AimeeFisher
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Sport
- Newsroom
Jacqueline Kennedy, the gifted Kiwi kayaker
Behind the trailblazing success of Dame Lisa Carrington and Aimee Fisher, young sprint kayakers are starting to line up to hopefully take over when their heroes eventually depart the stage. Gisborne's Jacqueline Kennedy is one of those impressive candidates and what's more, she has a brother who's looking to scale the heights alongside her. Kennedy was just four when Carrington won her first Olympic gold medal in London in 2012 and even though it was more of a general thought, the two-week sports extravaganza was something she quickly realised she wanted to be a part of. 'When I was way younger, I said to myself, I want to go to the Olympics. I didn't quite know what sport, but I wanted to go. I first thought it would be running, but now it's turning into kayaking and so whether it's 2028 or 2032 I probably won't stop until I get there and I'm sure many of the athletes I compete with are the same,' Kennedy says. Now 16, Kennedy is a year 12 student at Gisborne Girls High School. Her brother Maxwell is 17 and is head boy at Gisborne Boys. The siblings were a key part of the Poverty Bay Kayak Club squad that finished second overall out of the competing clubs at April's New Zealand Canoe Sprint Nationals, taking home five gold medals, 24 silver and 19 bronze over three days at Lake Karapiro. In the U18 category, Jacqueline won gold in the K1 200m, K1 500m and K1 1,000m individual events, while Maxwell, alongside club teammates, was victorious in the K2 500m, K4 200m and K4 500m categories. The siblings teamed up to take the Junior Mixed K2 200m title and then Jacqueline climbed in another boat alongside Hawkes Bay's Aimee Fisher to win the open K2 200m and K2 500m crowns. Kennedy and Aimee Fisher after one of their wins at Karapiro. Photo: Sally Cameron 'In all honesty I was more nervous getting in a boat with my brother than I was getting in a boat with Aimee,' Kennedy says. 'Both of them are brilliant paddlers and I knew Aimee had a lot of experience and I also wanted to do really well with my brother because that meant a lot to a lot of people. When I was in the boat with Aimee I was pretty nervous because she's extraordinary; she's the fastest K1 woman in the world [in history] and I just wanted to be able to keep up with her and make her feel like she wasn't pulling me along. I'm super grateful for the opportunity for her to bring me along and I just want to make it worth it for her. I want people to see there's two people in the boat.' Kennedy, who was named Canoe Racing New Zealand's Junior Athlete of the Year in February, represented New Zealand at the International Canoe Federation Junior World Sprint Championships in Bulgaria last year. She has also been named for 2025's edition, which takes place in Portugal in July, just before her 17th birthday. She'll also get another chance to line up for her country alongside Maxwell, who has also been chosen in the national squad. 'This sport has become a real family affair. Last year in the Asia Pacific Sprint Cup it was the first time Maxwell and I represented New Zealand together. This will be the first World Championships for us together and I'm sure there's going to be many more. It's super special for the family, we're happy we can make them all proud,' Kennedy says. Kennedy also competed in this year's Asia Pacific Sprint Cup in Japan, winning three golds on day one of a weather affected competition, in the K1, K2 and K4 500m events. The World Championship squad will have training camps in Christchurch and Auckland before departing for Europe at the start of July. They'll spend wo weeks in Europe at their final training camp before the championships start on July 23. 'I've learnt a lot from last year, what to do differently and I'm excited to truly be competitive, whereas last year it was crazy,' Kennedy says. Born on the North Shore in Auckland, Kennedy and her family moved to Gisborne when she was four, returning to where her mother grew up and where Jacqueline's grandfather lived. Paddling with brother Max at the Karapiro champs. Photo: Sally Cameron Jaqueline and Maxwell started surf lifesaving at Midway Surf Club and instantly fell in love with the environment, enjoying the waves and the paddleboarding. 'There was a couple of old boys at both Midway and Poverty Bay Kayak Club who told my brother and I we should come kayaking, so we did. My brother took to it more than me, I was into my running, but come March 2023, my brother was going to be competing in Asia Pacifics and I was going to be at Karapiro for about five days, so Mum and Dad [Sally and Craig] said I may as well get into a boat,' Kennedy says. Amazingly, it was only March 2023 when she officially started kayak training. 'Since then it's progressed very quickly, which is quite exciting but sometimes you sit back and think, 'wow, this has happened really quickly'.' Although she's now part of the Canoe Racing New Zealand (CRNZ) set-up, the Kennedys are lucky to have strong, local coaching support to assist their day-to-day development. 'What we've soon discovered is the best coaching I can get is from my coach Liz Thompson at Poverty Bay. Liz is amazing. She knows so much more than anyone I've ever met in the kayaking world. She knows what you need. For me personally, she knows when to help with my nerves, or to fire me up. She knows when I need to take back or I need to keep pushing and I know that when I'm with Liz, I'm in good hands because there's no doubt she knows what she's doing. She's an incredible coach,' Kennedy says. As she mentions, one of the work-ons for Kennedy is controlling her nerves, but she's able to take on words of wisdom from the top women in the sport, who are easy to approach and always happy to talk through their experiences to try and help. 'Aimee, Lisa, Alicia [Hoskin, two-time Olympic champion], they're all incredible ladies and I'm now beginning to see the journey that they've all gone through. When you meet them, you realise how down to earth they are and it makes you think, if they can do incredible things, so can I,' Kennedy says. Ultimately though, Kennedy's biggest inspiration is family, with parents Sally and Craig a huge influence, alongside grandparents, other family members, friends, and of course her brother. 'I think I inherited my competitiveness from both of them. My parents want the best out of my brother and I. I love my parents very, very much. They drive us to training, they make sure we have all the right gear, they travel across the world and it's hard to express how much I appreciate that. They'll never let me and Maxwell miss out on an opportunity which is something that we're both very grateful for.'
RNZ News
01-05-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Dame Lisa Carrington to skip 2025 season
Gold medalist Lisa Carrington of New Zealand. Photo: Iain McGregor / New Zealand's most successful Olympian Dame Lisa Carrington won't compete on the Kayak World Cup circuit this year. Dame Lisa's name is missing from the 13-paddler squad named for the series in Europe. Earlier this year she indicated that she does intend to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics . However, it appears she has decided that she will not compete internationally this year. Carrington won three gold medals in Paris last year to take her Olympic gold medal haul to eight. Aimee Fisher, who finished fourth in the K1 final in Paris last year, is in the squad for the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cups in Szeged, Hungary and Poznan, Poland. The other members of the Olympic champion K4 crew are also included: Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan. New Zealand sprint kayak squad Aimee Fisher, Hawke's Bay Kayak Racing Club Alicia Hoskin, North Shore Canoe Club Finn Murphy, North Shore Canoe Club (Paracanoe) Grant Clancy, North Shore Canoe Club Hamish Legarth, Hawke's Bay Kayak Racing Club James Munro, Otago Kayak Racing Club James Scott, North Shore Canoe Club Kacey Ngataki, North Shore Canoe Club Kalani Gilbertson, North Shore Canoe Club Lucy Matehaere, Otago Kayak Racing Club Olivia Brett, Arawa Canoe Club Quaid Thompson, Poverty Bay Kayak Club Tara Vaughan, North Shore Canoe Club Szeged Canoe Sprint World Cup on 16-18 May Poznan Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup on 22-25 May.
