Four Brits booked A final spots on the second day of competition at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Duisburg, Germany.
With another round of heats this morning, action turned to the semi finals this afternoon with the competition hotting up.
Lewis Fletcher (Scottish Performance Squad) booked GB's first spot in an A final after he finished in third place in the third K1 200m semi-final. The Scot, who won the two World Cup B finals already this season, continued his good form to go one better. He crossed the line in 34.955.
Katie Reid (Forth) and Beth Gill (Chelmsford) raced in the semi-final of the C2W 500m. The pairing raced well to progress to the B Final after finishing in 6th place in 2.00.697.
On his World Championships debut, Ed Clifton (Chelmsford) raced through to the A Final of the VL2 after finishing in third place in his semi final, crossing the finish in 54.701.
Dan Johnson left everything on the water to put in an almighty effort in the semi-final of the Men's K1 1000m in his bid for a coveted A final spot. In a competitive semi final, the Chelmsford athlete ultimately finished in 4th in 03:30.569 which means he will race in the B final on Saturday.
A fine performance from K2 pairing Luke Shaw (Norwich) and Philip Miles (Royal Leamington Spa) saw them finish in fifth place in the semi final of the men's 1000m.
Having finished in 7th place in last month's U23 World Championships in the same event, the pair will race again in the B final on Saturday.
In her debut senior World Championships Norwich's Lucy Lee-Smith had a great run to open the day's racing for the Brits this morning. She finished in fifth place in heat 2 of the K1 200m in 43.075 which will see her through to the semi-final on Saturday.
She will also race the K1 500m C final on Saturday after her semi-final this afternoon. In the race which was dominated by Lisa Carrington, Lucy was 9th in 1.55.819.
Anna Palmer narrowly missed progressing to the final of the C1 1000m after finishing in 5th place in the semis. Anna was gaining on Spain's Soutelo but a late push from the Spaniard and strong finish from Velasquez of Colombia pushed her back to fifth. Anna will be back on the water in the C1 5000m event on Sunday.
Melissa Johnson of Chelmsford will contest the B final of the K1 1000 on Saturday after a fine fourth place finish in her semi final. She crossed the finish in a time of 4.10.353.
In this morning's heats, two-time world champion Laura Sugar cruised to victory in her heat of the KL3, winning in 45.401 to qualify for Sunday's final. She will be joined by team mate Hope Gordon, after she finished in second place in heat 2 in 48.274.
Jeanette Chippington will race again in the semi-final of the KL1after she finished fourth in her heat in 55.449.
Reigning World Champion Jack Eyers won his heat of the VL3 in 47.542. Compatriot Stu Wood VL3 was also first past the post in heat 4 in 48.401. Both will progress to Saturday's semi final.
In the heats of the women's K2 500m the pairing of Debs Kerr (Anker Valley) and Emma Russell (Chelmsford) finished in 5th place. Their time of 1.43.703 will see them through to the semi finals on Saturday.
A strong second 250m saw Fladbury's Jonathan Jones and Richmond's Ben Phillips finish in fourth place in the heats of the C2 500m. They crossed the line in 01:44.772 to qualify for the semi final on Saturday.
Philip Miles was back on the water, this time with Zoe Clark (Royal) in the mixed K2 500m, they finished in 01:41.509 in 5th place and will race in the semi-final again on Saturday.
Finally, Fowey duo Benji Cabrera and Matt Collinge made their senior world championships debut today after a fantastic U23 season. They raced to fifth place in their heat of the men's K2 500m in 1.35.136.
The racing resumes tomorrow morning and can be followed on Recast.
Everything you need to follow the action, including a link to the results and Recast can be found here: https://www.canoeicf.com/canoe-sprint-world-championships/duisburg-2023