The New Zealand kayak team have produced their best-ever World Cup performance, collecting four gold medals after some team boat heroics on the final day of the season opening event in Portugal.
The New Zealand women's K4 crew. Photo: Jamie Troughton /supplied
A day after Caitlin Ryan's K1 500m victory, Aimee Fisher and Lisa Carrington paired up to win the K2 200m and 500m double just 50 minutes apart, before linking with fellow Olympians Ryan and Kayla Imrie to capture the K4 500m crown.
"The sport's just growing so much and it's pretty crazy to think it was back in 2015 that we won our first gold medal in the K4 here," Fisher said. "To come home with four gold medals is just a dream run."
Capping a remarkable three days at the Montemor-o-Velho venue, New Zealand's younger paddlers also recorded a flurry of final appearances, leaving the team delighted.
The canoe sprint World Cup now heads to Hungary next weekend, with the New Zealand team returning afterwards to prepare for August's World Championships.
-RNZ
