The Australians are off to a flying start at the 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships, with some dominant performances recorded on the opening day.

Seventeen Aussie boats took to the Duisburg course, with Olympic gold medalist Jean van der Westhuyzen opening up proceedings winning his K1 500 heat to advance to the semi finals.

Van der Westhuyzen’s performance set the tone for the Australian team, young guns and New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athletes Kailey Harlen and Natalia Drobot following suit, booking their spot in the K2 200 semi.

Ben Sainsbury delivered a phenomenal race in a tough men’s KL1 200 field to make his way through to the semi finals. Dual Paralympian Susan Seipel also crossed the line in second place of her heat, 0.011 seconds behind Canada’s Brianna Hennessy.

Curtis McGrath showed that he hasn’t missed a beat, since last racing the World Championships in 2019, recording a world’s best time in the men’s KL2 heat to advance straight through to the final.

“I’m stoked with that race…a world’s best time so I’m really happy with it,” McGrath said.

“We were executing some really nice stuff in training so it’s good to be able to come here and put it into action.

“The goal for that race was to get straight through to the final, and that’s what we did. I’m really keen to get out in the V1 now, I haven’t paddled it in this lake yet so I’m excited to get ready for the rest of racing,” he said.

West Australian Amy Ralph qualified for the women’s VL3 200 semi final, powering down the course in a time of 1:04:596. Dual Paralympian and NSWIS scholarship athlete Dylan Littlehales (pictured above) added his name to the list of Aussies winning their heats, with a dominant performance in the men’s KL3 200.

Australian canoe paddler, Ben Manning, put his competition on notice, with a third place in his heat earning a spot in the men’s C1 500 semi final.

Before the lunch time break, attention turned to the team boats with the K4 500 taking to the course.

The Australian women’s combination of Aly Bull, Ally Clarke, Ella Beere (NSWIS) and Yale Steinepreis cruised down the course to finish in third and advance to the semi finals.

Riley Fitzsimmons of NSWIS joined Pierre van der Westhuyzen, Jackson Collins and Noah Havard strung together a comfortable race to also finish in third and make their way through to the semis.

“With Olympic qualification on the line as well, it was really good to put together a solid race and a nice little kick start to the week,” Fitzsimmons said.

“That was a good hit out…first race in a while since World Cup 2. We’ve put in a good stint in training in Szolnok, we did six weeks there and we’ve been building it up the whole time getting faster and faster,” Harvard said.

“It was just about focusing on the race plan in the first half of the race, and letting the second half of the race play out. It was nice to feel like the six weeks of training in Szolnok was paying off in a nice performance just then. It was really nice to get that one on the board,” Collins said.

“A lot of that [performance] is all of us having the same goal…getting that Olympic quota spot for Australia and for the boat to work we’ve got to trust each other, and I trust these boys on the line any day,” van der Westhuyzen said.

As the Aussies returned to the water for the afternoon session, NSWIS scholarship athlete Fletcher Armstrong kept the form flowing, finishing fourth in the K1 200 heats to secure a spot in the semi finals.

Dual Olympian Alyce Wood made a stunning return to the World Championships, her first in four years, finding clear water to win her heat in a time of 1:51.275.

“It’s good to be out there, it’s been a while since I’ve raced a Worlds and my last big race was the Olympics so good to be back at a championship event,” Wood said.

“It felt nice to be out there, it felt like a very controlled race…I’m happy with that as a starting point and excited for the semi,” she said.

It is an extra special regatta for Wood, who gets to share the experience with her daughter Florence for the first time.

“I was thinking in the warm down, this is my ninth World Championships so I’ve been around for a while, but this is definitely the most special.

“I feel like I’m in the best form of my career, at the ripe old age of 31 and I’ve got a pretty cute little cheerleader here as well.

“It’s definitely the most special and it means the most to me this year,” she said.

In her second race of the day, Seipel also competed in the women’s KL2 200 finishing third to advance direct to the final.

Armstrong teamed up with World Championships debutant Jakob Hammond (NSWIS) in the men’s K2 1000, crossing the line in third and set to race in the semi finals.

Another dominant performance from dual Olympian Bull saw her storm home in the women’s K1 1000 heats, booking a ticket direct to the final. Manning secured another semi finals berth, finishing second in the men’s C1 1000 heats.

Olympic gold medalist Tom Green closed out the day for the Australian team an impressive men’s K1 1000 heat, that saw him cross the line in first ahead of Rafal Rosolski (Poland) and Jost Zakrajsek (Slovenia).

Racing will return to the Duisburg course on Thursday 24 August from 5pm AEST.

For the full schedule and results – click here

The 2023 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships will be live streamed via the Planet Canoe Recast channel – click here

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