The New Zealand contingent at the Canoe Sprint World Cup Finals have gotten off to a flying start in Hungary, spearheaded by the efforts of Dame Lisa Carrington and Aimee Fisher.
Carrington and Fisher both won their K1 500m heats overnight to advance with Fisher posting the fastest time in the first round with a 1:58.74 effort - almost five seconds faster than her Kiwi rival.
Both Carrington and Fisher are able to race in the discipline as it is a World Cup event and not the World Championships; Carrington won the rights to represent New Zealand in that in August after pipping Fisher in April in their showdown on Lake Karapiro.
Earlier, Carrington also helped qualify the women's K4 500 boat, combining with Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett, and Tara Vaughan to post the fastest time in the discipline.
"It was good to get out there and blow out the cobwebs," Carrington said after her races.
"It's good to come here and have another crack, especially in the team boat."
In the men's events, Ashton Reiser led the way with a win in his K1 200 heat after finishing fourth in his K1 500 heat; both results seeing him advance to the semi-finals.
The men's K4 500 - made up of Max Brown, Zach Ferkins, Kurtis Imrie and Hamish Legarth - also advanced to their semi-final with a third-placed finish in their heat, just 0.66s behind race winners Slovakia.
The para-canoeists also had success on the Szeged water with Scott Martlew, Corbin Hart, and Peter Cowan all progressing to their respective finals.
Martlew won his KL2 200 heat and came second in the VL3 200 event, while Cowan finished second in his VL3 200 heat and Hart finished third in the men's KL3 200.
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