After last night's official Opening Ceremony, which was attended by the Slovenian President Danilo Turk, who gave welcoming address, followed by performances, lights and fireworks, marking the fourth time that these Championships have been held in Bled,a small tourist town at an elevation of 500 metres above sea level.

Teams from Britain, looking to finish top of the medals table at London 2012, won 11 of the heats, nine of them in Olympic classes.

All the British heat winners are now guaranteed a top-12 finish which is a significant staging post en route to 2012 Olympic qualification, with 11 boats qualifying from here for London in most events although not all.

"We've had a good start with eight heat wins", said GB Rowing Performance Director David Tanner.

"But there were also  some close-run heats showing how tight some of the fields are here".

Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins were amongst those heat winners.

Their double scull performance proved that Watkins has shaken off her early-season injury. 

"It's good to be back and fighting fit", she said.

Racing continues for a week with the first finals taking place on Thursday (September 1) and then each day until Sunday 4 September.

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