Great Britain's David Florence was left with work to do after hitting two gates in his first run in the canoe slalom.
World number one Florence recorded a time of 101.60 seconds at Lee Valley White Water Centre in Broxbourne to leave him sitting in 13th place.
There were loud cheers, despite some empty seats, as the 29-year-old from Aberdeen negotiated the course, which he has practised on for the last 18 months.
Following his two gold medals in the C1 category in the world cup meetings in Cardiff earlier this year, Florence is looking to add to his silver in Beijing four years ago.
While Britain's Richard Hounslow looked confident as he made his way down the course in the K1 category but he hit gate 13 and registered a time of 94.40.