Aimee Fisher secured another two World Cup medals over the weekend in Poznan, Poland, adding a gold in the women’s K1 1000m and a bronze in the women’s K1 500m to her collection. There were also some close 4th place finishes from the NZ team as well as some breakout performances, including an impressive debut from paracanoe paddler Finn Murphy.
Aimee Fisher won gold in the 1000m last weekend in Szeged and repeated her feat at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup Poznan on Friday night, crossing the line in a time of 3.52.02, 1.89 seconds ahead of Hungary’s Zsoka Csikos. She was back on Saturday night for the the K1 500m final where, after leading for most of the race, she had to settle for 3rd place behind Poland’s Anna Pulawska and Selma Konijn from Netherlands.
Quaid Thompson also had an impressive weekend in Poznan, winning the B final in the men’s K1 1000m (10th overall) and then finishing 4th in the K1 5000m, which is made up of paddling laps interjected with portages on a jetty.
Finn Murphy impressed at his first ICF Paracanoe event, just missing out on a spot in the KL3 200m A final before dominating the B final on Friday night to finish the event 10th overall. Finn, who only started paddling in 2022 following a lower leg amputation, is eying up the 2028 Paralympics and he made a strong impression on the international scene over the weekend.
The NZ women’s K4 continued their impressive form as a new combination crew finishing fourth overall, just 0.05seconds off the podium and 0.43 seconds behind winners Germany. The men’s K4, also a new crew combination, finished 13th overall.
These two world cup events have been the first international events of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic cycle and the team will now return to New Zealand and turn their focus to the World Championships in August. They will take confidence and lessons from this campaign to set the platform for the next three months of build up to the main event of the year in Milan.
New Zealand Team results- 2025 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Cup Poznan
1st- Aimee Fisher, Womens K1 1000m
3rd – Aimee Fisher, Womens K1 500m
4th – Quaid Thompson, Mens K1 5000m
4th – Olivia Brett, Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan, Lucy Matehaere, Womens K4 500m
10th – Finn Murphy, Mens KL3 200m
10th – Quaid Thompson, Mens K1 1000m
11th – Olivia Brett, Womens K1 200m
13th – Grant Clancy, James Munro, Kacey Ngataki, Kalani Gilbertson, Mens K4 500m
14th – Grant Clancy, Kacey Ngataki, Mens K2 500m
16th – Kalani Gilbertson, Mens K1 500m
18th – James Munro, Mens K1 500m
8th in semifinal – James Scott, Mens K1 200m
9th in heat – Hamish Legarth, Mens K1 200m
9th in heat – Hamish Legarth/James Scott, Mens K2 500m
DNS – Alicia Hoskin, Tara Vaughan, Womens K2 500m
