It was mission accomplished for Great Britain as they qualified several paddlers for sprint finals at the ICF Wild Water World Championships, in Spain.
Action on day three switched to the testing 350m course on the Esla River, at Sabero, for sprint heats.
Kerry Christie continued her superb championships by booking her place in Saturday’s women’s kayak final, while Laura Milne and Chloe Bracewell both made it through in the women’s canoe.
And all three British boats qualified in the women’s canoe double.
There were 15 final spots up for grabs for the kayak paddlers and 12 for the canoe racers.
The five fastest from the first heats qualified automatically, with the rest battling it out for the remaining places in a second heat.
Kerry, who picked up three classic medals on the first two days of racing, looked in contention for the final of the women’s kayak sprint after finishing heat one 14th quickest in a 46-strong field, in 45.17 seconds.
Needing to finish in the top 10 in heat two, the 21-year-old improved her time to 44.90, good enough for ninth place and the final.
Her sister Emma, a world champion in the women’s C2 classic on day one, carved a second-and-a-half off her first heat time to clock 46.66secs for 20th, while Lucy Guest posted a best time of 47.35 to finish 24th from 40 finishers.
Huw Singleton was the fastest of the British quartet in the men’s kayak sprint, recording a good run of 41.63secs in the first heat and lowering it by more than a second to finish 23rd of 68 boats in heat two.
Alex Sheppy, who picked up an historic World Cup bronze medal in June, finished just one place and three-hundredths of a second behind his teammate.
Jacob Holmes also bettered his first heat to post 41.48 for 33rd, and Leon Tomlinson clocked 42.69 for 42nd.
In the men’s canoe sprint, Andrew Crowhurst backed up his top 20 finish over the classic course with another good result in the sprint heats.
The Halifax Canoe Club paddler improved on his second run to clock 45.95, less than eight-tenths of a second away from making the final in 12th.
Team-mate Ryan Mallon shaved almost two-and-a-half seconds off his first heat time to post 49.76 for 19th place.
Both British paddlers in the women’s canoe sprint improved their times in heat two to make it through to Saturday’s final.
Laura Milne clocked 56.62secs to qualify in sixth, while Chloe Bracewell took the seventh and final qualifying spot with 57.49.
With all boats qualifying automatically from the women’s canoe double heats, it was all about keeping powder dry for the final.
Newly-crowned C2 classic world champions Kerry and Emma Christie were the fastest of the British trio, setting 51.71 to qualify sixth-fastest.
Ciara Maloney and Elsie Landsborough were one place back with 53.87, and Laura Milne and Mags Dilai made it through in ninth, despite finding trouble near the finish line.
And in the men’s canoe doubles, Andrew Crowhurst and Phil Dean finished just a second outside the five qualifying spots in heat two after posting their quickest time of 46.13secs for eighth place.
Jacob Holmes and Rob Jefferies were one place back with 47.76, while a mistake near the finish left Fred Brown and Nick Boreham in 13th.
Sprint results –
Women’s Kayak
Heat One: 14th – Kerry Christie 45.17; 30th – Emma Christie 48.15; DNF – Lucy Guest
Heat Two: 9th – Kerry Christie 44.90; 20th – Emma Christie 46.66; 24th – Lucy Guest 47.35
Men’s Canoe
Heat One: 16th – Andrew Crowhurst 46.39; 28th – Ryan Mallon 52.19
Heat Two: 12th – Andrew Crowhurst 45.95; 19th – Ryan Mallon 49.76
Men’s Kayak
Heat One: 28th – Huw Singleton 41.63; 37th – Jacob Holmes 41.77; 40th – Leon Tomlinson 41.98; 41st – Alex Sheppy 42.29
Heat Two: 23rd – Huw Singleton 40.59; 24th – Alex Sheppy 40.66; 33rd – Jacob Holmes 41.48; 42nd – Leon Tomlinson 42.69
Women’s Canoe
Heat One: 11th – Laura Milne 57.03; 13th – Chloe Bracewell 1.00.96
Heat Two: 6th – Laura Milne 56.62; 7th – Chloe Bracewell 57.49
Men’s Canoe Double
Heat One: 11th – Crowhurst/Dean 46.91; 16th – Brown/Boreham 49.10; 18th – Holmes/Jefferies 50.29
Heat Two: 8th – Crowhurst/Dean 46.13; 9th – Holmes/Jefferies 47.76; 13th – Brown/Boreham 1:00.18
Women’s Canoe Double: 6th – K. Christie/E. Christie 51.71; 7th – Maloney/Landsborough 53.87; 9th – Milne/Dilai 1.02.35