Paddling, eating and sleeping – this has been the simple life Aimee Fisher has been living over the past few months.
Training on the peaceful Lake Bohinj in northwestern Slovenia, Fisher has been quietly getting ready for an assault on two world titles after ridding herself of the doubts that have been impinging on her mind.
One year has passed since she experienced one of the most heartbreaking moments of her career.
Fisher was expected to challenge Lisa Carrington for the women’s kayak single 500m crown in Paris only to miss out on a medal by 0.15.
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“Paris was hard,” said Fisher.
“That broke my heart, and it took a while to get back up again from that and get back into training.
“There were a few doubts there as to whether I could go again and get back up, but in the end, I decided that I still want to be here, I am still up for the challenge and it’s good to be back up racing again.”
There have been a lot of changes for Fisher since the Olympic Games.
The 30-year-old has returned to her hometown of Hawke’s Bay and is back working at the local primary school which she used to attend teaching young kids Canoe Polo.
“I’m enjoying life outside the kayak,” said Fisher.
“It's key.
“I’m a bit of an older athlete now.
“For the last 10 years, it was all in.
“I made a lot of sacrifices, missed out a lot of key life moments, pursuing some of those goals so I am ready to invest a little bit more into life outside the kayak and start to getting some life skill going for when I enter the real world and this is all done.
“It’s going to be interesting figuring out how to juggle that but definitely ready for that change.”
Since May, Fisher has been in Slovenia, working with her coach Jernej Zupanicic as she ramped up her preparations for the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Milan.
Fisher said it had helped her to “refine the art of paddling” in her quest for success on the big stage.
“It’s a really simple lifestyle – paddling, eating and sleeping,” said Fisher.
“I spent a bit of time in Bohinj with Zupa and one of the local Slovenian athletes.
“We have had heaps of awesome ladies coming and going from the circuit.
“I wasn't so keen on going back home.
“It's pretty cold there at the moment and I was doing a lot of training on my own on the river, so it was good to be here in summer.”
Another change for Fisher has been her decision to compete in the women’s K1 1000m alongside her ambitions in the women’s K1 500m.
Fisher has made a strong start to the season, winning the 1000m titles at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cups in Szeged and Poznan.
Her performances have fuelled her ambitions to break the 1000m world record of 3:49.42 set by fellow New Zealander Teneale Hatton in 2014.
“It was an idea at the start of the year to get more racing experience,” said Fisher.
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“I have done a couple now, it’s a bit of a love-hate relationship but I want to have a crack at that world record.
“I need the stars to align a little bit.
“I had a go at it in Poland, but the water was a bit cold, and I wasn’t quite fit enough but at some point in the next few years I would like to try to take that time.”
Fisher is aiming for success over both distances at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships and is already setting her sights on the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028.
“I’m really excited,” said Fisher.
“We have got three years to go and that will be last attempt, one last go at trying to race completely fearless, leave it all out there, it will be what it will be and the sun will rise the next day.”
Full coverage of the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships can be viewed on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel.
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