CANOE/KAYAK: More than 250 of Australia’s best sprint paddlers will fight it out for selection at the National Sprint Championships at the Sydney International Regatta Centre this week.

The event will be contested across five days, with racing getting underway on Wednesday 11 March and concluding on Sunday 15 March.

The coveted men’s K1 1000 event will get the program underway on Wednesday morning from 8:30am AEST.

Murray Stewart will be the man to beat after producing an emphatic victory at the first selection trial at Grand Prix 2 (GP2) in Penrith last month.

Stewart blitzed the field to finish just under five seconds ahead of Ken Wallace.

Wallace and fellow place-getter Jordan Wood will be Stewart’s main challengers in the race for the K1 1000 seat on the senior team.

The A final will be held on Thursday morning at 8:44am AEST.

The K2 1000 event will also feature on the opening day of racing, with the top three in each heat advancing directly to the A final on Friday.

At GP2, the Australian men demonstrated their depth in the K2 1000, with the World Championship silver medal winning boat of Wallace and Lachlan Tame being pipped by Stewart and Jacob Clear by 0.32 seconds.

The two crews are expected to fight it out for line honours once again.

The men’s K1 200 heats will commence from 2:48pm AEST with Steve Bird looking to make it back to back race wins following a dominant performance at GP2.

The Canning River paddler will face strong competition from fellow Western Australian’s Brodie Holmes and Jesse Phillips, and emerging U23 duo Callum Dunn and Ben McLean.

Defending champion Lachlan Tame could be another name to watch.

The race of the opening day will belong to the women, with the K1 200 A final scheduled to commence at 2:43pm AEST.

Jo Brigden-Jones will be the one to beat, having already secured herself a place on the senior team this year following victories in the K1 200, K2 500 and K4 500 at GP2 last month.

The London Olympian will face strong competition from Bayswater kayaker Alana Nicholls and Sunshine Coast paddler Alyce Burnett.

The opening day of racing will see three paracanoe finals contested with the men’s K1 200 LTA final set to commence from midday.

Western Australian Brock Ingram will be the man to beat. He will be out to defend his K1 200, K1 500 and K1 1000 LTA National titles.

Curtis McGrath, Sam Germein, Andrew Stiles and Glenn Pyne will fight it out in the K1 200 TA final, while Colin Sieders will be the sole competitor in the arms only classification.

In the women’s K1 200 multiclass final watch for Susanne Seipel and Amanda Reynolds in the centre lanes.

Reynolds will be out to defend her national title.

Other key women’s events to feature include the K1 500, K2 500 and K4 500.

Alana Nicholls will be out to defend her K1 500 title after edging Naomi Flood by 0.03 seconds to win the national final in Adelaide last year.

Flood however has the edge in the battle for selection after triumphing at the first selection trial last month.

Brigden-Jones and Flood will be favourites in the K2 500. The pair have been working hard together and look set to form a deadly duo overseas this year.

Up and coming U23 pairing Alyce Burnett and Alyssa Bull proved they can push the senior crew all the way at GP2 and will be ones to watch this weekend.

The men’s K4 1000 final on Friday promises to be one of the races of the meet with the star studded senior crew of Wallace, Stewart, Clear and David Smith set to go head to head with the emerging quad of Joel McKitterick, Jordan Wood, Riley Fitzsimmons and Jy Duffy.

The men’s K2 200 event will conclude the Olympic disciplines on Saturday with Bird and Phillips chasing a sixth consecutive national title.

On Sunday the non-Olympic disciplines will conclude the program. For the first time at Nationals, Paddle boarding will also feature with races to take place on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information visit the AC Regattas website.

2014 National Champions

K1 1000 – Murray Stewart
K2 1000 – Murray Stewart/Jacob Clear
K4 1000 – Tate Smith/David Smith/Murray Stewart/Jacob Clear
K1 200 – Lachlan Tame
K2 200 – Jesse Phillips/Steve Bird
K1 500 – Jordan Wood
K2 500 – Glenn Rypp/Zac Ryan
K1 5000 – Bill Bain

C1 200 – Alex Haas
C2 200 – Alex Haas/Jake Donaghey
C1 1000 – Marius Florian
C2 1000 – Alex Haas/Jake Donaghey
C1 5000 – Rain Metsoja
C1 500 – Marius Florian
C2 500 – Rain Metsoja/Benjamin Manning

K1 500 – Alana Nicholls
K2 500 – Jo Brigden-Jones/Naomi Flood
K4 500 – Jo Brigden-Jones/Alana Nicholls/Naomi Flood/Bernadette Wallace
K1 200 – Jo Brigden-Jones
K2 200 – Jo Brigden-Jones/Hannah Davis
K1 1000 – Naomi Flood
K1 5000 – Brea Roadley

PC K1 200 LTA – Brock Ingram
PC K1 200 TA – Sam Germein
PC K1 200 A – Colin Sieders
PC V1 200 TA – Curtis McGrath
PC K1 200 LTA – Amanda Reynolds
PC K1 200 TA – Erin Baker
PC V1 200 LTA – Melissa Sullivan
PC V1 200 TA – Kara Kennedy

AUSTRALIAN CANOEING