Eighth NZ title for Carrington

Lisa Carrington picked up her eighth New Zealand K1 200m title on the opening day of the NZCT national canoe sprint championships at Lake Karapiro today.

The world and Olympic champion finished in 42.97secs, ahead of Hawke's Bay's Aimee Fisher (44.01) and North Shore's Caitlin Ryan (45.63), and the Eastern Bay paddler admitted it still meant a lot to her.

"It's fantastic to race the other girls and experience the nerves again," Carrington said. "It just shows how important these nationals are, that they are still pretty nerve-wracking for me. It's also great to be able to go out and completely empty the tank and go hard - I haven't done that in a little while."

North Shore's Teneale Hatton was fourth, with Hatton and Carrington eyeing a rematch in the K1 500m tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Scott Bicknell (Hawke's Bay) also defended his K1 200m crown, powering home in 37.74 to beat New Zealand teammate Marty McDowell (Mana) by 1.36secs.  It was Bicknell's sixth 200m title and his fourth in a row.

Under-23 paddlers Andrew Roy (39.40) and Taris Harker (39.54) had a great tussle for the third, with the two Bay of Plenty paddlers finishing ahead of Craig Simpkins and Canadian Olympian Adam van Koeverden, who both dipped under the 40sec mark.

Caption: Kayaker Lisa Carrington on her way to her eighth national K1 200m title at the New Zealand canoe racing championships at Lake Karapiro today.  Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media Services