Aimee Fisher served notice of her intentions for the 2025 season by collecting a gold and a silver across back-to-back World Cup regattas in Hungary and Germany. Paracanoeist Finn Murphy also made a striking impression on the international circuit, claiming a silver medal at only his third international event.
New Zealand paddlers contested two consecutive ICF World Cup regattas in Szeged and Brandenburg across a fortnight of racing. Fisher's campaign opened in Hungary, where she went agonisingly close to the top of the podium in the K1 500m, finishing in an exceptionally tight contest against Australian Natalia Drobot. A week later in Brandenburg, she returned with sharpened focus and, navigating tricky conditions, powered through to gold in the same event, leaving little doubt about her form heading into the season.
The performance drawing perhaps the most attention came from Murphy. Racing at only his third international event, the paracanoeist secured silver in the KL3 200m when the outcome was decided by a deadheat ruling against Brazil's Miqueias Elias Rodriguez. The composure he showed across the regatta was well beyond what you'd expect from an athlete so early in an international career. He won his semifinal and placed second in his heat, arriving at the final having already shown real consistency.
"Going into the A Final, I felt like I'd figured out the processes I needed to execute three good races," Murphy said. "Looking back, I probably executed the semifinal even better than the final. My start wasn't quite as clean, but by the 100m mark I knew where I stood relative to the guys beside me, and I was ahead of both of them."
The closing stretch proved the ultimate test of nerve and fitness. "From there it was just a matter of holding on. With 50 metres to go it started to get really hard, but it's amazing how, when you know you're doing well, you can tap into an extra energy source."
When the silver medal was confirmed, Murphy's response reflected both satisfaction and honest surprise. "I was chuffed," he said. "I felt like I'd executed the race well and I was stoked with how it went, but I'd definitely surprised myself."
Peter Cowan finished fifth in the MVL3 200m at Brandenburg, while New Zealand's K4 team and sprint single scullers competed across both venues with mixed results as the squad builds its racing rhythm ahead of the 2025 season.
