Having kick-started the sport 24 years ago, it's appropriate Donald was back in the thick of the kayaking action on the opening day of Whitewater XL in Auckland.

Johnstone was New Zealand's first canoe slalom Olympian, finishing 25th at the Barcelona Games in 1992. There's been only three since to paddle at that level – Owen Hughes, Luuka Jones and Mike Dawson – with Jones' silver medal at Rio this year the undoubted highlight.

In a year of firsts for the sport, the new Vector Wero Whitewater Park has opened in Manukau, which is also hosting the first major event this week with the four-day Whitewater XL.

Johnstone, now 53, showed he's still got game by finishing 23rd in the opening qualifying round on Thursday and comfortably making Saturday's televised canoe slalom finals.

The Bay of Plenty local is thrilled to be racing a world-class course without having to go overseas.

'This facility is a game-changer and a great gain for our sport in New Zealand, especially in light of what Luuka achieved in Rio, and it gives our base of boaters an international course to train on and race on.

'Mike and Luuka are doing really well lifting the profile and I really hope they just keep hammering it out, because this is their time. They just need to savour the flavour!”

Johnstone retired soon after his Olympic appearance but came back to the sport recently to prepare for next year's World Masters Games. He paddled Vector Wero for the first time last month and admits it has its challenges.

'I found it quite hectic out there – the river is busy with all the features through the mid-section – so I've really been enjoying the training on there this week.

'I'm pretty fired up about the masters games, though there are a lot of overseas guys coming over as well, which will make things interesting.”

There were a number of Olympians present in the opening round, including 2012 K1 silver medalist Vavra Hradilek (Czech Republic) and Rio C1 silver medalist Matej Benus (Slovakia), although it was two-time world extreme champion Joe Morley (Great Britain) who clocked the fastest time in the opening run.

Jones qualified for both the K1 and C1 finals, having announced she'll chase spots in both boats at the Tokyo Olympics, with women's C1 to be added for the first time.

'Before the Games, I'd already been thinking about it, and then when I got back I started training in a C1," Jones explained. 'To try and go there competing in two classes is another big challenge.”

Another Olympian competing on Thursday was former canoe sprinter Mike Walker, who finished fifth in the K2 1000m at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with Steven Ferguson.

Walker started his paddling career in slalom and is also targeting the World Masters Games, having been out of the whitewater scene for 17 years.

New Zealand kayaker Luuka Jones competes in the C1 class of the Whitewater XL canoe slalom event at Vector Wero Whitewater Park in Auckland today. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media

OVERSEAS PADDLERS STAR AT WWXL

International paddlers took a clean sweep of finals on the first day of the Whitewater XL canoe slalom championships in Auckland today.

Olympic silver medalist Luuka Jones was the best of locals, grabbing a couple of podium finishes, though she was an agonising 0.29secs behind Great British paddler Lizzie Neave in the women's K1 final.

The format featured a qualifying race through eight gates on the new Vector Wero Whitewater Park course, with the top-eight going through to quarterfinals, semifinals and a final. Neave, an Olympian on her home course in London in 2012, loved the experience.

'It was a really fun race format - something I'd never done before - and all the athletes really enjoyed it,” Neave said. 'The course is really good run - it's slightly smaller than what I'm used to training on but it's still technically challenging and really good for training and racing on.”

Jones also grabbed third in the C1 division, her first attempt at the kneeling, single-bladed discipline in more than four years.

Australians Noemie Fox and Rosalyn Lawrence squared off in the C1 final, with Fox's time of 79.82secs nearly 3secs clear of her compatriot.

In the men's C1, German Anton Franz came through for the win, heading Frenchman Cedric Joly by 0.35secs, after Rio silver medalist Matej Benus (Slovakia) touched a gate and incurred a 2sec penalty in the semifinal. That allowed another Frenchman, Edern Le Ruyet, to come through for third.

Czech Republic star Via Prindis triumphed in the men's K1 final, meanwhile, heading Stefan Hengst (Germany) by 2.97secs, after Hengst picked up two touches.

Tomorrow's format will see more traditional 18-gate course, with two runs of qualifying for Saturday.

The top-10 from the first qualifying run will contest for another cash shootout tomorrow night, with 30 more paddlers from the next run joining them in Saturday's semifinals.

RESULTS:

Women:

• C1: Noemie Fox (AUS) 1, Rosalyn Lawrence (AUS) 2, Luuka Jones (NZ) 3.
• K1: Lizzie Leave (GB) 1, Luuka Jones (NZ) 2, Martina Wegman (NLD) 3.

Men:

• C1: Anton Franz (GER) 1, Cedric Joly (FRA) 2, Edern Le Ruyet (FRA) 3.
• K1: Bit Prindis (CZE) 1, Stefan Hengst (GER) 2, Mike Dawson (NZ) 3.

Czech kayaker Vavra Hradilek competes in the K1 class of the Whitewater XL canoe slalom event at Vector Wero Whitewater Park in Auckland today. Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media