There will be a lot of things on Lucy Matehaere’s mind when she dips her paddle into the Olympic waters in France in August.
She will think of her parents, Leonie and Brent, and the immense support they provided from the day she joined the St Clair Surf Lifesaving Club aged 6 to the moment she realised canoeing was her ticket to the top.
She will have plenty of guidance from coaches — and a certain legendary team-mate — swirling in her brain.
"Deep down, I always had the belief that I would be able to make it," Matehaere told the Otago Daily Times yesterday.
"But there have definitely been many times when I doubted that I would get here.
"To hold on to that deep sense of self-belief while everything else is shaking you is kind of difficult, but I managed to regain my confidence, which was one of the biggest changes that helped me."
Matehaere has had to make a series of big decisions to get to this point.
Putting her first sporting loves, basketball and surf lifesaving, to the side was one; switching her university studies from Otago to Auckland so she could be in the best place to pursue her canoeing dream another; and sticking with that dream when the demands of high-performance sport cranked up was perhaps the biggest of all.
Elite sport means dealing with ups and downs. Training for something like canoe sprint is challenging enough — add in the heated competition with rivals, the mental stress, the nutritional demands, finding the balance with study and work, and being away from family, and it can take a toll.
Matehaere is rightly proud of how she has coped with the challenge.
"About two years ago, or even less, I still had the dream of making the Olympics but I didn’t really think it was a possibility for this year," she said.
"I just had to take a big leap of faith, and change a few things in my training environment and my mentality, and it’s really paid off.
"I was at a low point of my career and I managed to turn it around with the help of a lot of people.
"I also leaned into my spirituality side as well, which has really helped.
"All the elements have come together. It’s been a long journey but there is still more to come."
Canoeing can be an isolating sport but there is clearly a sense of sisterhood in the record six-strong New Zealand women’s team heading to Paris.
Matehaere, who is also a reserve for the K4 500m team, is looking forward to chasing gold in the K2 500m with Aimee Fisher, who went to the Rio Olympics and will also start in the K1 event in Paris.
The pair first encountered each other in 2018.
"We were at the same under-23 and junior world champs," Matehaere recalled.
"We had an odd number of female athletes, so I sort of had a suspicion that maybe one of us would have to room with one of the older girls, and it turned out that the coach asked me if I would like to room with Aimee.
"I got to see how she operated, and I was real honoured to be there with her, and that’s where our relationship began.
"We’ve both developed a lot in our own paddling, and I’m really excited to see what we can do working together in the next few months."
Naturally, one of the women in black will cast a particularly powerful shadow over the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium.
Lisa Carrington, preparing for her fourth Games, is New Zealand’s most successful Olympian with five gold medals —but she is also, they say, surprisingly normal.
"She’s really cool. I’d say she’s a mix of fun aunty Lisa and older sister Lisa.
"It’s just really nice to know that she is there for you. She won’t push anything on you but she is there if we need her.
"It’s that knowledge that she is there for her team-mates, which I really love. She’s just down to earth and loves a good time but can really put her head down and work so hard."
Matehaere also hopes to have her proud parents yelling her on in Paris.
"Dad let out a few whoops in the car and was shouting, and Mum just cried. I think that encapsulates it.
"They’ve been with me every step, even when I’ve been in Auckland. They’re so emotionally connected to my journey, which I’m really grateful for.
"I’ve had lots of trials to get here, and some great highs and great lows. They’ve had to ride that with me.
"They were the ones who would get me up in the morning and take me to training, and they continue to inspire me with their work ethic, which is one of my key values.
"Dad’s obviously very passionate about sport. He tries to give me a few tips here and there, which I take with a grain of salt because he’s more of a whitewater paddler."
Matehaere (Ngāti Raukawa) has been doing some part-time work for Project Kainga, working with rural Māori communities around climate change, an area of particular passion.
She is also finding time to complete her final paper in a biomedical science degree, and has done some coaching at the North Shore Canoe Club at Lake Pupuke.
Another big area of passion is music — Matehaere plays multiple instruments and writes songs — but that has understandably had to take a back seat of late.
"I just haven’t had time. But I still really like using songwriting as an outlet for my emotions and my experiences in life. One day, I hope to be able to utilise that to reach others as well."
Matehaere should have plenty of material for a song after she competes in Paris.
She becomes the second Otago athlete to be selected for the Olympics after fellow paddler Finn Butcher, who specialises in whitewater events.
Champion track and field athletes Anna Grimaldi and Holly Robinson have booked their tickets to the Paralympics.
More Otago athletes could be in line for some good news as the New Zealand swimming team for Paris is being unveiled in Dunedin on Tuesday.
NZ canoe sprint
Olympic team
- Lisa Carrington: K1 500, K2 500 (with Hoskin), K4 500
- Alicia Hoskin: K2 500, K4 500
- Tara Vaughan: K4 500
- Olivia Brett: K4 500
- Aimee Fisher: K1 500, K2 500 (with Matehaere)
- Lucy Matehaere: K2 500
