CANOE/KAYAK: 16 Australian canoe sprint athletes will contest the ICF World Championships in Milan from 20 to 23 August.

The event will double as Olympic qualification, with the athletes getting their first opportunity to secure quotas for Rio next year.

A strong emphasis for the squad this year has been placed on the team events, as it is a priority to secure as many quotas as possible.

“Our preparation for the worlds has gone well with our men's K2 and K4 1000m crews training in Hungary and the rest of the team based around the European Training Centre in Italy. The hard training is behind us, everyone is now focused on the races ahead and excited to be in Milan for the worlds,” National Performance Director Richard Fox said.

“The added spice of Olympic Qualification brings a special flavour to these worlds and we are ready for the challenges ahead.”

The women’s K4 500 crew of Alana Nicholls, Naomi Flood, Jo Brigden-Jones and Bernadette Wallace have had a faultless lead in based at the AIS European Training Centre in Varese.

“We all feel like our preparation has been great,” Brigden-Jones said.

“We have spent the last six weeks in Italy and it has been a great training camp with lots of improvements made. Everyone is paddling really well in their K1’s and that transfers into the K4.”

The quad enter the World Championships on the back of some encouraging performances in the World Cup series. They finished fourth at each of the events in Portugal and Germany.

Brigden-Jones admits that there is added pressure to perform this year.

“We all know how important this year is as it’s our only opportunity to qualify K4 quota positions,” Brigden-Jones said.

“I raced in the K4 500 in 2011 at the World Champs and Olympic Qualification so I know what we are in for.”

“Everyone is ready to race at their best and there is a bit more tension in the air as everyone knows what’s on the line. We have been working towards this moment since London 2012, so we all just want to do well and for all our hard work to pay off.”

Rounding out the women’s events will be Alyce Burnett and Alyssa Bull in the K2 500.

The Sunshine Coast pairing finished third at the under-23 World Championships in Portugal last month.

“To have the opportunity to race at under-23 worlds and put together a good performance where we won a bronze medal really enhanced our preparation,” Burnett said.

“Since then we have been able to knuckle down and focus on what work needs to be done before we hit the line on Thursday.”

It will be the first time the pair have raced at a senior world championships together.

“We're hoping to produce a result that will qualify two spots for the Olympics for Australia, but I think for us it's more about getting to the finish line and knowing we gave it our all, and if that means producing a good result then that's just icing on the cake,” Burnett.

Burnett will also double up and race the K1 200.

In the men’s events, expect each of the three boats contesting the 1000 metre events to feature prominently.

At 18, Riley Fitzsimmons will be the youngest athlete competing at Worlds this year. Last month he won gold in the K2 1000 alongside Jordan Wood at the under-23 World Championships.

The pair will join London Olympic gold medalists David Smith and Jacob Clear in new look K4.

Fitzsimmons had his first paddle on the course in Milan yesterday and was impressed.

“It's beautiful! The water is clear blue and the scenery is amazing. I think it could be a really fast course,” he said.

The quad will race their heat on Friday and plan to attack from the start.

“The qualifications in the heats is first to the final and rest to the semi so we've really got to attack it if we want that early qualification, because we know the other crews like Spain, Hungary and Serbia aren't going to take it easy,” Fitzsimmons said.

“The boat’s got the speed to match it with the big euro countries and we know when we nail our race plan we are a real contender.”

Another strong medal contender will be Kenny Wallace and Lachlan Tame in the K2 1000.

Last year in Moscow the pair finished second in the final, and enter this year’s event full of confidence after winning a gold and two silvers at the three World Cups earlier in the year.

Manly Warringah kayaker Murray Stewart will contest the K1 1000. The London Olympic K4 gold medalist won silver at the first World Cup in Portugal earlier in the year and will be one to watch closely.

Western Australian pair Steve Bird and Jesse Phillips will race the K2 200, with Bird doubling up in the K1 200.

The pair contested the event in London, finishing sixth in the final.

Marius Florian will be the sole canoeist on the team. He will race the C1 1000 where he is hoping to improve on his previous results.

“I'm hoping for PB in the C1 1000 and to reach B final. I also want to achieve a good result in the other two events C1 500 and C1 5000,” Florian.

CANOEING AUSTRALIA