Three NSWIS canoe sprint paddlers have been selected to the 2016 Australian Olympic Team.

Olympic gold medallist Murray Stewart and debutants Riley Fitzsimmons and Lachlan Tame will all take to the water in Rio after earning selection in the men’s K1, K2 and K4 1000m events.

The NSWIS trio will take part in a number of camps and the upcoming World Cup series to determine combinations across the three disciplines, with the Australian team considered one of the world’s best heading into Rio.

“I was contacted by some competitors from overseas who said ‘congratulations you’ve just made the hardest Olympic Games team in the world’,” Tame said to Australian Canoeing following his selection.

NSWIS athletes Jo Brigden-Jones and Naomi Flood are also in contention for Olympic selection, however the duo will race-off at the first World Cup event in Germany to determine who competes in Rio.