Double Olympic canoe champion Lisa Carrington will have her first competitve outing in ten months when she competes at a regatta in Rotorua this weekend.
The 31-year-old four time Halberg Sportswoman of the Year last competed at the New Zealand Canoe Sprint Champs in February, where she enjoyed decisive wins in both the K1 200m and K1 500m finals, before the global pandemic wiped out the prospect of any international competition for the year including Carrington's Tokyo Olympic bid.
Carrington is the current world K1 200m and K1 500m champion and will race in the Blue Lake 2 regatta on Lake Tikitapu.
Also competing are Caitlin Ryan, a 2017 World K2 500m champion alongside Carrington and former owner of the world best time for the K1 500m distance.
Lisa Carrington (front) and Aimee Fisher competing in the K2 200m at a World Cup event in Prague in 2018. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Another strong contender this weekend will be Aimee Fisher a former World U23 K1 200m and K1 500m champion, who finished runner-up behind Carrington in the K1 200m at the national champs.
Fisher performed well at the Blue Lake 1 - the first national regatta of the season - claiming an impressive K1 200m and K1 500m double.
Also competing in both open women's K1 events is 2018 World K2 200m and K4 200m silver medallist Kayla Imrie.
Returning to canoe racing after several years absence is Teneale Hatton who was the 2014 World K1 1000m champion.
The 30-year-old Aucklander took several years out of flatwater paddling to focus on surf ski racing.
A strong elite men's squad will also take to the water.
Most interest lies in the men's K1 200m and K1 1000m events.
At Blue Lake 1 in October, Kurtis Imrie claimed victory in the K1 500m and K1 1000m and again looks to be the one to beat.
His 2019 World Championships K2 1000m partner, Max Brown is likely to push him while national men's K1 1000m champion Zach Ferkins is another likely to be in the mix.
CRNZ technical director Gordon Walker said while both the men's and women's national squads had some internal competition and racing in August it will be the first time the paddlers will have faced competition pressure since the nationals.
"The K1 events are a good chance to see where the paddlers at are individually and to test a few things out, although from a selection point of view the regatta is not critical. However, I'm sure the paddlers will put a lot of pressure on themselves to perform well."
