Goal Getter

At 29, sprint canoe champion Lisa Carrington is at the top of her game, but as the elite athlete contemplates her next sporting challenge, she tells Nicky Pellegrino why she’s got no time to waste

Pretty much everything in Lisa Carrington’s life right now is targeted at making her fitter, faster and stronger. When you are a champion kayaker, on track to becoming one of our most decorated Olympians, there is no energy to spare for things that don’t further your goals. Not when the difference between victory and loss can be mere fractions of seconds. Not when it’s your job to win a race.

We are used to seeing footage of Lisa powering her kayak across the finish line and punching the air in triumph – it’s why she received her third Halberg for Sportswoman of the Year in February. What we rarely glimpse is the discipline it takes to get her there. The hours of repetitive physical training, the regular physiotherapy to prevent her body breaking down, the work to keep her mentally focused, the commitments to the sponsors who fund her, the attention to a healthy diet, the constant need for recovery time. Lisa describes it as a puzzle; if any single piece is missing she won’t get the full picture.

“Sport is all about right here, right now,” says Lisa, whose current focus is the Canoe Sprint World Cup in Poland at the end of May. “You can make one little change and it will affect your whole performance. So when I’m training I only do things that are good for me. I feel like I don’t have time to waste.”

Exercise in discipline

Lisa’s typical day begins at 6am when she heads out for a paddling session on Lake Pupuke near her home on Auckland’s North Shore. She’ll be back in her kayak later in the afternoon and in between there is either a stint in the gym, an appointment with her physiotherapist or a hard-core Pilates workout.