A new season brings huge anticipation and a great excitement as paddlers look to shake off the cobwebs and register top times on the world stage.
Szeged always delivers fantastic competition as it once again plays host to the opening International Canoe Federation Canoe Sprint World Cup of the season.
With a day to go until the World Cup gets underway, the ICF picks out five things to watch from the thrilling sprint programme.
New combinations set for Szeged
After the intensity of an Olympic campaign, nations are using this season to mix up their teams, creating opportunities for new talent to emerge.
With the Olympic Games in Los Angeles three years away, this is the chance for countries to try out new kayak four crews.
Germany are the reigning Olympic champions in the men’s K4 500m and have brought in a new face.
Click here for live results from Szeged
Max Rendschmidt, Jacob Schopf and Max Lemke will welcome Anton Winkelmann into the boat, replacing Tom Liebscher-Lucz who will instead race in the men's K2 500m with Linus Bange.
Olympic silver medallists Australia have selected an entirely new quartet with Baliey Clues, Luke Egger, Harrison Taurins and Flynn Whelan, while Adrian Del Rio and Alex Graneri have been brought in to join Marcus Cooper and Carlos Arevalo in the Spanish team.
In the women’s K4 500m, New Zealand feature three of the paddlers that teamed up to seal an historic gold in Paris with Lucy Matehaere taking the seat of the great Lisa Carrington who has opted to skip the international season in 2025.
There is also a new look to the Hungarian team, with only Sara Fojt and Noemi Pupp retaining their seat in the crew that secured silver at the Games.
How will the Olympic stars perform?
All eyes will be on Czechia’s reigning Olympic champions Josef Dostal and Martin Fuksa and Canada’s golden girl Katie Vincent to see how they get on after their stunning 2024 campaigns.
Fuksa clinched the men’s C1 1000m title in Paris but will face stiff competition from the opening race, with Brazil’s Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Isaquias Guimaraes Queiroz pitted against him in his heat.
Dostal will hope to pick up from where he left off as well after winning Olympic gold in the men’s K1 1000m and the world title in the men’s K1 500m.
He will compete in both events in Szeged and will be the man to beat with many paddlers eager to get the better of him.
Vincent will also have a target on her back as the Olympic champion in the women’s C1 200m. There is no Nevin Harrison of the United States in the field but Cuba’s Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys, a bronze medallist at Paris 2024, is set to offer a strong challenge.
Hungarians looking to make their mark
Among the contenders for the men’s K1 1000m crown will be home favourites and rivals Balint Kopasz and Adam Varga.
Both finished behind Dostal in Paris, with Varga taking silver and Kopasz, the Olympic champion in Tokyo, collecting bronze.
They are among a 52-strong Hungarian team seeking to make home advantage count with big performances in Szeged.
Fellow Olympic medallists Pupp and Fojt will combine in the women’s K2 500m where compatriots Blanka Kiss and Anna Lucz will also feature.
Like other nations, Hungary have mixed things up in the K4 with Pupp and Fojt remaining from the quartet that claimed bronze in Paris as they joins forces with Lucz and Kiss while the hosts will field two men’s crews.
No Carrington, no problem for New Zealand?
There is a notable absentee in the Kiwi team with eight-time Olympic gold medallist Carrington deciding to sit out the entire international season.
After being ever-present on the circuit since making her senior debut in 2009, it will be strange not to see Carrington on the water this year.
Aimee Fisher, who beat Carrington in both Szeged and Poznan last year, will look to seize her opportunity in the women’s K1 500m.
Her absence has also created a chance for Matehaere who will join Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughan in the women’s K4 500m.
After winning Olympic gold with Carrington in Paris, Hoskin will now link up with Vaughan in the women’s K2 500m aiming to deliver more success for New Zealand.
New ranking system in place
This season also sees the introduction of the ICF’s new Canoe Sprint World Ranking system, designed to track paddler performances and bring fresh excitement to events.
Rankings will be split into the four categories of men’s kayak, women’s kayak, men’s canoe and women’s canoe.
An athlete can register a maximum of five results on the World Ranking in each calendar year but those must come from five different competitions.
For C1 or K1 events, the winner will earn 1,000 points at World Cups followed by 900 points for second and 840 points for third.
The two gold medallists in the C2 or K2 events will each achieve 900 points, with the silver medallists both receiving 810 points and bronze medallists each earning 756 points.
For C4 or K4 events, the winning crew will each receive 800 points, while the silver medallists will each secure 720 points and the bronze medallists will each collect 672 points.
Click here for all the details on the World Ranking system.
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