The Olympic and World champion Lisa Carrington has claimed another gold to headline a successful weekend for the New Zealand team at the year's first Canoe World Cup in Portugal.
Medal-winners from the final day of the world cup kayaking regatta. (L-R) Lisa Carrington, Caitlin Ryan, Aimee Fisher, Kayla Imrie, Jaimee Lovett and Marty McDowell. Photo: Supplied
The New Zealander overcame a slow start to win the K1 200m final overnight, following her gold in the K1 500 on Saturday.
The 25-year-old won the K1 200, her specialist event, in 39.524 seconds, 0.808 seconds ahead of Cuban silver medalist Yusmari Rodriguez.
France's Sarah Guyot was third.
Carrington said the double gold was the perfect way to start her 2015 campaign.
Her success was matched an hour later by Caitlin Ryan, Aimee Fisher, Kayla Imrie and Jaimee Lovett who won gold in the K4 500 final.
The New Zealand foursome took the lead in the second half of the race and held off a late surge from Poland to win in 1 minute 31.540 seconds.
However the quartet couldn't back up their winning performance in this morning's K4 200, with Ryan, Fisher, Imrie and Lovett finishing fourth.
Ryan and Fisher won silver in the K2 500 on Saturday night, in just their third race together.
While they're focused more on their K4 boat with Imrie and Lovett, their performance in the K2 500 has opened up Olympic prospects.
Fellow New Zealander Marty McDowell added to the medal haul with a shock bronze in the K1 500 final.
The New Zealand team will compete at the second and third World Cup meets in Germany and Denmark respectively over the next two weekends as they continue their build-up to the world championships in Milan, Italy in August.
