Liam Heath can greet his family with a smile on his face after a perfect start to his Canoe Sprint World Championships. 

The Olympic champion will welcome his loved ones to Szeged on Thursday after easing through to the K1 200m semi-finals, laying down a marker with 37.71 seconds on the clock.

That proved the fastest time in qualifying but the Guildford athlete knows there is plenty more to come in his bid for a second World Championship title.

Heath won the equivalent title in Racice two years ago to add to his five silver and bronze medals from years previous, as well as the gold medal from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

And he looks in good form to repeat the feat in Hungary, next in the boat on Friday after an important day of rest and relaxation to come.

“It was a solid start to the campaign, it’s always to get the first one out of the way to settle the nerves and get used to the water,” he said.

“The crowd isn’t full yet but you’ve still got a good noise, it’s about getting used to that environment.

“I’ve had a clean bill of health, hitting every session really well and clocking some good times, it’s about reproducing those on race day.

“I feel there is a lot more to come from that, the wind dropped a fair bit and I can certainly go quicker than that time.

“It’s beautiful here, a little bit cooler in the afternoon and perfect for racing.

“We’ve got a day off now so I’ll watch a couple of films before meeting my wife and daughter who are flying out on Thursday, which is something to really look forward to.”

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