Canoeing: Rift creates shaky ground

Erin Taylor (L) was upstaged by her less-fancied rival Lisa Carrington at last week's national regatta at Rotorua. Photo / Janna Dixon

canoeing's ugly split now appears to have worsened and is spreading to the athletes themselves - if the events of last week's national regatta at Rotorua's Blue Lake are any guide.

An angry parent of a young paddler has written to Minister of Sport, Murray McCully, Sparc and Canoe Racing New Zealand after witnessing two incidents at the regatta. In one, elite canoeist Ben Fouhy refused to shake the hand of arch-rival Steven Ferguson after the latter beat him in the K1 1000m event.

"After the K1 1000m - a brilliant race - Ferguson paddled over to Fouhy and extended his hand. Fouhy dismissed it and turned his boat around and paddled off," the parent (who asked not to be named) said.

"I wrote to the Minister, Sparc and CRNZ to tell them to sort it out," said the parent. "You can't have one of the country's top representatives behaving in such a childish manner. It's not a good look for the sport to have one of your main athletes behaving like a prize prat. My daughter is only young but she remarked on what happened to me - and that can't be good for the sport for youngsters to see that kind of thing happening."

Former CRNZ board member and Olympic gold medallist Alan Thompson also witnessed the incident. He and Ian Ferguson said Fouhy had also flung some abuse Steven Ferguson's way.

"It doesn't matter if you don't like the other person. This is sport," said Thompson. "It's the best man won on the day thing. You shake hands - even if it's not a mark of respect, it's an acknowledgement that the other guy won."

The snub was even worse at the prizegiving. Steven Ferguson stood alone on the dais at Rotorua's Blue Lake - with second and third placegetters Fouhy and Troy Burbidge missing.

The significance of all this is that some athletes now seem to be aligning themselves more clearly along the lines of the rupture within CRNZ. Fouhy, Taylor and Burbidge are firmly in the new coaching camp led by coach intern Gordon Walker and Canoe Racing NZ high performance manager Wayne Maher - though the national body has advertised for new coaches after not renewing Ian Ferguson's and Paul MacDonald's contracts earlier this year.

Ferguson and McDonald were on hand at Rotorua's Blue Lake to see Ferguson's son, Steven, play a starring role in the regatta - winning the K1 1000m event, beating fellow Olympian Fouhy by close to two boat lengths and in a world-class time, with Troy Burbidge third. Ferguson also won the new Olympic distance sprint over 200m. Ferguson and Poverty Bay's Darryl Fitzgerald also won the K2 1000m by two and a half boat lengths, beating the favoured crew of Fouhy and Burbidge.

In another upset, Lisa Carrington overcame the more favoured Erin Taylor to win the women's K1 500m - also by nearly two boat lengths.

Taylor also missed the medal ceremony for Carrington who, although she is technically coached by CRNZ interim coach Andrew Towns, has had considerable previous input from Ferguson and MacDonald.

Ferguson has nothing to do with the new CRNZ set-up and remains coached by his father. Scott Bicknell, who produced a much improved showing at Blue Lake, also trains outside the CRNZ structure, working with coach Gavin Elmigar, a coach previously ditched by the national body. Fitzgerald works with a CRNZ coach let go at the same time as Ferguson and MacDonald - Andras Szabo.

"What this shows," said Thompson, "is that the paddlers being coached by those with experience and knowledge are doing better than those coached by those who do not have those qualities - which is what we have been saying all along."

The decision to dump Ferguson and MacDonald as coaches led to bitter battle lines being drawn up between Ferguson, MacDonald and Thompson, who resigned from the CRNZ board in protest. The high-profile Olympians claimed they, and Szabo, were on one side; and CRNZ CEO Paula Kearns, high performance manager Wayne Maher, new coach Gordon Walker and Sparc on the other.

The Fouhy selection saga has been a part of the divide - with the three Olympians arguing strongly that the talented but difficult Fouhy should not have been granted automatic selection to the national team without trials and a prescribed selection process.

Fouhy was involved in a high-profile departure earlier this year, citing differences with Ferguson.

Rather than lose Fouhy, a deal was brokered where Sparc would continue to fund him but he would train separately from the rest of the Ferguson and MacDonald-coached team, coming together only in Europe for key events. Most observers thought that deal would be in place only for 2010 - but Fouhy has now gained automatic selection for Europe next year.

It had been mooted that Taylor might also get an automatic entry to Europe as the singles paddler - but that might be harder to carry off now after her defeat by Carrington.

Ferguson, MacDonald and Thompson were at the Blue Lake after winning a CRNZ tender for helping to set up and dismantle the course - a two- and-a-half day task that included driving the rescue boat down and incurring petrol and other costs. They were paid $1200 for the three of them. Ironically, MacDonald also ended up calling the races.CRNZ high performance manager Wayne Maher circulated an email containing feedback from the regatta organising committee. It said any further "unsportsmanlike behaviour" will result in disqualification and that all members of the high-performance squad must accept the award on the podium.