A top-class international field is competing, but it's the Kiwi canoe slalom contingent keen to shine at this weekend's New Zealand Open in the Manawatu.
Rotorua-based paddlers Luuka Jones and Mike Dawson have already qualified for the London Olympics, as well as Tauranga-raised Cook Islands competitor Ella Nicholas.
They'll get an early taste of top-level competition on the Mangahao River near Shannon, with three of the top-12 world-ranked male paddlers racing and top Australian Rosalyn Lawrence headlining the female field.
Jones, who competed at the Beijing Olympics as a teenager in 2008, is relishing a long build-up to the Games this time around after qualifying her K1 boat during September's world championships in Slovakia.
"It's been such a change qualifying so early this time around," the 23-year-old said. "It means the same pressure isn't there when I race the selection races and I can just concentrate on technique and getting things right. In saying that, I haven't won the New Zealand Open title yet and it would be neat to do it this year."