The Otago kayaker will stand on the shoulders of all those who have helped him as he lines up for the Canoe Spring World Cups starting in Szeged, Hungary this weekend and in Brandenburg, Germany next week.
Munro will hop in the boat for the men’s K4 500m alongside Kurtis Imrie, Hamish Legarth and Grant Clancy — who were all part of the K4 that placed eighth at the Paris Olympics — for the first time internationally and will line up in the K2 alongside Imrie for the first time.
Munro, who made his international debut in 2022, raced in the K4 last year, where they finished 15th, while Imrie and Legarth are returning after a year out of the crew.
Fellow Otago kayaker Lucy Matehaere will line up in the women’s K4 500m alongside Olivia Brett, Greer Morley and late addition Aimee Fisher.
Lisa Carrington, who recently announced she was pregnant but still intended to race at the World Cups before taking 2027 off, was a late scratching from the boat.
‘‘It’s very special to be able to represent New Zealand. There’s only four people who can be in the boat but it feels like we represent much more,’’ Munro said.
‘‘We have a wider training group based up at Lake Pupuke where we are all working towards the same goal of LA 2028 — they have helped to push us in training so we also represent the work they have put into this programme too.
‘‘I’m looking forward to testing ourselves. There are not many opportunities to truly test yourself in kayaking as due to training periodisation there are only a few times a year where you are truly at your capability.
‘‘We’ve been working hard over the first half of the season to improve so now we get to see if we have improved more than other countries.
‘‘We are hoping to move forward in the field — there are more K4s entered than probably ever before.’’
He has picked up national titles across K1, K2 and K4 events, specialising in the 500m.
‘‘I’ve podiumed in the 1000m mutliple times too, but that title has eluded me so far.’’
But had it not been for the Coast to Coast, Munro might not be where he is today.
Growing up, motorsport was his trade until he shifted to Dunedin to study dietetics as a 20-year-old and joined the Otago Kayak Racing Club in 2017.
‘‘I had no intention of being a kayaker, but the community at the club was amazing and having others to train with each morning kept me coming back each day.’’
He credits Otago coach Brendan O’Neill as being ‘‘instrumental’’ in his trajectory and without his help, Munro dobuts he would have made the Coast to Coast — where he twice completed the two-day individual race — let alone become a sprint kayaker.
Following his multisport ventures, Munro turned to sprint kayaking.
‘‘I feel I haven’t reached my potential yet so while I feel I can get better and I enjoy doing it I want to keep going.’’
Like most athletes, Munro’s goal remains the LA Olympics in 2028.
His selection for the world championships in August will depend on results across the World Cups and then he will build towards the Oceania Championships in December.
