Olympics: Lisa Carrington a K2 contender

World champion Kiwi paddler Lisa Carrington thinks competing in the K2 canoe will help in her race for individual gold at the London Olympics.

But, judging by her performance with Erin Taylor in the two-person boat at the sprint world cup in Poland at the weekend, the K2 could be much more than a mere training aid.

Carrington and Taylor finished fifth in the A final of the K2 500 on the waters in Poznan early yesterday as the New Zealand team, in fine-tuning mode ahead of August's Games, left the event without a medal.

The pair, who have been racing in the event for just a year, beat the world champion Austrians despite undertaking a difficult programme. They also chose to stretch their legs in the less-favoured K2 1000, meaning they had three races while their competitors had only one.

That bodes well for their podium prospects come the Olympics, where Ohope's Carrington will also be competing in the K1 200m. She won the world championship in that discipline last August and is hoping, with the aid of K2 racing, to equal that feat in London.

"I really enjoy being part of a team in the K2 with Erin," she said. "It helps me with my K1 and, individually, we get faster and faster, but we also get faster as a team. At the Olympics, I have an opportunity to do two races - one being in a team and one individual - so I'm really lucky.

"Doing the K2 is really good because we're a great team and that gives me lots of confidence [in the K1] because Erin's on the sideline cheering for me as well."

Carrington also thought the presence of Taylor provided other benefits.

"Having a team-mate just helps a lot with switching on and switching off. It's really important for us - you put your business hat on and then you go home and you take it off and just relax. I think it's important to really balance that out, or else you can get too highly strung and you burn out a bit."

Avoiding burn-out was one of the prime objectives for the New Zealand team over the weekend, with a focus on the process rather than results. That meant Taylor, and the rest of the team, left Poland with smiles on their faces but no medals around their necks.

"We're pretty happy," Taylor said. "You can't discount it - we beat the world champions - but it's just about racing a little bit better each time

"We've got lots of work to do still, we want to get closer up the field. We're pleased with the preparation so far, and we would've seen things today we want to work on."

It was a similar story for the other Kiwi paddlers. Steven Ferguson and Darryl Fitzgerald achieved the best result of the team, with a fourth-place in the K2 500, finishing less than a second outside the medals.

The pair exploded out of the blocks but found themselves unable to hold the pace towards the end as the more match hardened Europeans upped the ante.

"We're not worried about where we're placing us such - it's more about details and how the boat's running. The more we nail the little things now, and just work on them and make sure we don't have to worry about them at the Olympics, the better it is."

The team now head to Duisburg in Germany for preparations for a World Cup event this weekend, before separating for training at different locations around Europe.

APNZ