The Australian Canoe Sprint team achieved a number of positive results, despite not winning any medals, at World Cup 1 in Racice, Czech Republic.

The first world cup event of the season was used to build form ahead of World Cup 3 and the pinnacle event, the World Championships scheduled for August. Australian athletes showed strong signs of encouragement across the weekend, fairing well against a strong international field.

Saturday Finals
Australian crews narrowly missed out on medal positions on the first day of finals action, with Jacob Clear (QLD) and Murray Stewart (NSW) finishing fourth in the final of the men's K2 1000m in a time of 3:28.463, half a second out of the medal positions. Luke Morrison (SA) and David Smith (NSW) finished in seventh place.
Two Australian crews also contested the final of the men's K4 1000m, but both were unable to break through for a medal.

Chad Alston (SA), Chris Alagich (SA), Matt Urquhart (QLD) and Reece Baker (WA) produced a strong breakthrough performance to claim fifth place in a closely fought final, while Luke Morrison, Murray Stewart, David Smith and Jacob Clear, following a short turnaround from their K2 final, finished in ninth place.
In the women's 1000m B final, Mieke Boerema (SA) and Lyndsie Fogarty (QLD) finished 7th and 8th respectively.
Ken Wallace was forced to withdraw from the men’s K1 1000m final, after earlier placing eighth in the semi-final of the 500m event.

Sunday Finals
Murray Stewart claimed a fifth place finish in the final of the men's K1 500m, only one second off winning his first senior canoe sprint medal.

Stewart completed the course in a time of 1:39.551 to finish three seconds behind Sebastien Jouve of France, while paddlers from Sweden and Denmark filled the minor placings.

Lisa Russ (WA), Lyndsie Fogarty, Mieke Boerema and Alana Nicholls (WA) placed fifth in the final of the women's K4 500m. The newly formed Australian crew's time of 1:38.214 was not fast enough to challenge the winning crew from Poland, with two Russian crews rounding out the medal winners. Nicholls and Russ then combined to finish ninth in the final of the women's K2 500m.

Andrea Wood (QLD) settled for sixth place in final of the women's K1 500m with a time of 1:53.869. Wood had won her heat on Friday to gain direct qualification to the final but finished two seconds behind Shinobu Kitamoto of Japan. Denmark and the Republic of South Africa finished in second and third places respectively.

Brothers Luke Michael (NSW) and Jake Michael (NSW) finished third in the B Final of the men's K2 500m. There time of 1:31.315 was just under a second slower than the leading crew from Russia, while David Smith (NSW) and Luke Morrison (SA) finished in eighth place, a further two seconds back.

Bernadette Wallace (QLD) recorded a credible eighth place finish in the women's K1 5000, while Boerema rounded off her busy schedule by finishing 13th in the same race. David Smith and Luke Morrison entered the men's 5000m but did not complete the race.

The Australian team will move onto their training camp in Varese, Italy before only a small portion of the team competes at World Cup 2 in Poznan, Poland on May 22-24.

They will be joined in camp by Jo Brigden-Jones (NSW), who will contest the K1 events at World Cup 2. Hannah Davis (SA) will then join the squad in time for World Cup 3.