British athletes enjoyed an impressive first day at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Szeged, Hungary on Friday.
Seven GB canoeists earned their passage to Saturday’s finals, headed by London 2012 Olympian Rachel Cawthorn. The 24-year-old from Guildford battled through to the women’s K1 1,000m A final, and the K1 500m B final.
Andy Daniels and Ed Rutherford claimed third spot in the men’s K2 1,000m to book a place in the A final. But the pair face stiff competition from Hungary’s Olympic champions Rudolf Dombi and Roland Kokeny and London silver medallists Emanuel Silva and Fernando Pimenta from Portugal.
East Yorkshire’s Coral Burkill tasted double success, getting to the B final of the women’s K2 500m with teammate Hannah Brown. She returned to the water later in the day to qualify for the B final of the K1 1,000m.
And 23-year-old James Styan is also through to the men’s C11,000m B final, with Saturday also seeing the return to action of several of Team GB’s London 2012 medallists.
Ed McKeever, who claimed the K1 200m title last autumn, is in action while bronze medallists Liam Heath and Jon Schofield compete in the K2 200m.