Gusty winds and choppy waters made for a difficult opening day of competition at the Malta Regatta Course, with conditions expected to worsen during the next two days.

However, the reigning K1 200 metres, 500m and K2 500m Olympic champion belied the conditions with a number of victories.

She won the first women's K1 500m semi-final in 1min 51.67sec, meaning she was one of nine athletes who booked their places in the final on Saturday (May 28).

Carrington had earlier won the fifth heat in 1:54.22.

She was also part of New Zealand's women's K4 500m team alongside Alicia Hoskin, Olivia Brett and Tara Vaughn, which won its semi-final in 1:34.97.

The fastest time in the women's K1 500m heats was posted by Poland's Marta Walczykiewicz, a silver medallist in the K1 200m at Rio 2016.

Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Fernando Pimenta was the top performer across the three men's K1 1,000m semi-finals, with the Portuguese clocking 3:31.66 to reach the final.

Australia’s Thomas Green notched the quickest time in the heats with 3:32.41, and won the first semi-final in 3:34.40.

Josef Dostál, a K1 1,000m silver medallist at Rio 2016, progressed to the final courtesy of a second-place finish with a time of 3:34.63 in his semi-final.

However, the Czech canoeist acknowledged that the conditions were difficult in Poznań.

"When I saw the conditions here, I thought I should have done the K1 in [the Canoe Sprint World Cup] Račice," Dostál said.

"A strong tailwind, for the heavy guys like me, these conditions are not good.

"But for me, this World Cup is not important.

"Even the World Championships, it is not a qualification for the Olympics, so it means that I can just enjoy myself, and that is what I will try to do."

Lithuania’s Henrikas Zustautas and Vadim Korobov were quickest in the men’s C2 500m heats in 1:41.19, with Italian world champions Nicolae Craciun and Daniele Santini reaching the final in 1:42.01.

In the K4 500m races, hosts Poland, who triumphed at the World Cup in Račice, were among those who progressed through the women's heats, while men's world champions Ukraine impressed in the women's events.

Cuba’s Yarisleidis Cirilo Duboys and Katherin Nuevo Segura were fastest in the women's C2 500m.

In the non-Olympic races, Ukraine’s Anastasiia Chetverikova was quickest in the C1 women's 500m heats, clocking 2:12.50 to reach the final.

Czech Republic's Martin Fuksa was fastest in the men's C1 500m in 1:49.94 in the heats, with Poland’s Dominika Putto and Katarzyna Kolodziejczyk the top performers in the K2 women's 200m with a time of 38.52sec.

The second day of the Canoe Sprint World Cup is due to be held tomorrow.