Kiwis all set for canoeing's Oceania Champs starting today

Friday the 12th February marks the start of the second Australian Canoeing Grand Prix Regatta at the Sydney International Regatta Centre in Penrith.

This competition doubles as the Oceania Champs and will be the first major hit out for Canoe Racing New Zealand's High Performance Programme in 2010.

All of Kayak's Beijing Olympians will be lining up with both Ben Fouhy and Mike Walker marking their respective returns to International Competition after both have taken a year off. Ben and Mike will join Steven Ferguson in the K1 1000m on Sunday in what promises to be a battle royale with current Olympic K1 500m champion Ken Wallace of Australia also in the mix.

Ferguson will also line up with current K2 representative Scott Bicknell in the new K2 200m Olympic discipline. Troy Burbidge the other member of the 2009 Mens K2 combination will join Mike Walker, Darryl Fitzgerald of the Poverty Bay Kayak Club, and Ben Keys of Arawa in Christchurch in the Men’s K4 1000m. New Zealand's only woman's kayak Olympic representative Erin Taylor will contest her favoured K1 500m event and will later join Lisa Carrington, Teneale Hatton, (the current K2 500m combination) and Rachael Dodwell of Auckland's North Shore Club in the women's K4 500m event.