Kayaking: Nathan Luce earns elevation to guide Kiwi paddlers

Lisa Carrington led a successful Olympic campaign for the Kiwi paddlers. Photo / Getty

Canoe Racing New Zealand hope to capitalise on the success of the Tokyo Olympics with the creation of a new performance role.

CRNZ had a memorable campaign in Japan, eclipsed only by rowing in terms of podium success.

Lisa Carrington claimed individual golds in the K1 200m and K1 500m, while Carrington and Caitlin Regal took out the K2 500m, New Zealand's first kayaking medal in a team event since 1988.

The women's K4 500m crew finished fourth in their final, while the young men's combination of Max Brown and Kurtis Imrie showed their potential with a fifth place in the K2 1000m, finishing ahead of many experienced crews.

With the Paris Olympics only two-and-a-half years away, CRNZ have appointed Nathan Luce to a new general manager performance role.

Luce will have an overreaching role across the programme, especially focused on implementing a new holistic performance framework.

Luce coached the USA team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and also guided top paddlers in his native Canada and at the Australian Institute of Sport, before joining with CRNZ in November 2017 as a coach on the women's programme.

"Nathan was keen to expand his horizons and this role came up as we were debriefing from the last cycle and planning for the future," CRNZ chief executive Tom Ashley told the Herald. "We all agreed a position like this would be really helpful and Nath was a good fit and good for our continuity."

Gordon Walker will continue in his technical director role, though Luce will assume some of his responsibilities.

"Gordy remains in a technical leadership role and he will continue to coach as lead of the women's programme," said Ashley.

"We all rate him as the best in the world as a coach and in the technical performance areas. One reason for the evolution in our structure is to create space for Gordy to shine, to make the most of the performance edge that he gives us."

Walker and Jasper Bats will guide the women's programme, with Tim Brabants leading the men's programme with assistance from CRNZ development coach Craig Mustard.

A decision on a coach to replace Luce would be made in early 2022.

Ashley also confirmed that two-time Olympic sailing medallist Polly Powrie had resigned from her role as CRNZ performance manager.

"We are really sad to lose her," said Ashley. "She is awesome and it has been great working with her for the last three-and-a-half years but we all want the best for Polly and we respect her decision."

CRNZ will begin recruitment for Powrie's replacement in the new year.

The men's and women's paddlers have been back in training for a few months, though Regal and 2016 Olympian Kayla Imrie are currently on sabbaticals as they decide their next steps in the sport.

"There is no pressure from our end," said Ashley. "Both of them have been on the go for a long, long time with full-on training demands and very few weeks off per year."

Ashley also said that conversations were ongoing with 2021 world champion Aimee Fisher, who has been estranged from the programme since last year.

"Communication has been better and better," said Ashley. "From our perspective we are trying to keep things as open as possible."

Under the High Performance Sport New Zealand investment framework announced last week, CRNZ will receive annual campaign funding of $2.582 million over the next three years, an increase of $425,000 on the 2021 figure.

"There's direct investment for our young developing athletes - which is critical because that is what it is all about – and a slight increase on our core investment," said Ashley.

"We are super grateful for that support and the trust that HPSNZ has in us to deliver; we definitely don't take it for granted. That funding enables us to run a really good high performance programme."