The Australian canoe sprint team has qualified nine quota places for the 2012 London Olympic Games over the weekend at the 2011 ICF World Championships in Szeged, Hungary.

30 Australian crews competed at the regatta and it was the women’s K4 500m crew of Rachel Lovell, Hannah Davis, Lyndsie Fogarty and Jo Brigden-Jones that first tasted success with a bronze medal.

The bronze medal secured four Olympic quota places for Australia for next year and gives Australia the chance to chase another Olympic medal in the discipline in which they snared bronze three years ago in Beijing.

The Australian men’s K4 1000m crew of Smith, Jacob Clear, David Smith and Murray Stewart went one better than their female counterparts with an excellent performance against a strong European dominated field.

Australia led for the majority of the race before being overhauled by Germany in the closing stages, finishing just under a second behind, but still securing four more crucial Olympic quotas.

The ninth Olympic quota was won by West Australian Alana Nicholls who finished fourth in the women’s K1 200m and fifth in the women’s K1 500m, completing a solid all round regatta.

In the non-Olympic events, Naomi Flood won a bronze medal in the women’s K1 1000m, while Hannah Davis and Jo Brigden-Jones also won bronze in the women’s K2 200m.

The strong performance by the Australian team will give the group confidence ahead of London, where they will look to add to the three medals they won at the 2008 Beijing Games.

The Australian Government is a strong supporter of canoeing, providing in excess of $3.6 million of funding annually.