CANOE sprinter Jon Schofield insists he will leave everything out on the water when he and crewmate Liam Heath begin their Olympic campaign in the K2 200m today.

The 27-year-old Schofield and the rest of Team GB’s canoe sprint team have only recently returned from a warm-weather training camp in Barcelona in preparation for the Games.

Heath and Schofield won silver at the world championships last year to serve notice of their growing potential and they followed that up with European gold this year.

And Schofield admits that he and Heath could not be better prepared on the verge of their Olympic debut.

“Winning the Europeans gave us belief we could win the Olympics,” he said.

“It’s a major event because a lot of European nations are good. The fact we’ve been able to hold that title is good for us, but we’re still improving.

“This is probably the biggest moment of most Team GB athletes’ careers, to compete in front of a home crowd and we’re never going to get this again as it's unprecedented.

“I’m going to grab the opportunity with both hands and enjoy it.

“Our camp was amazing and fantastic. It was the perfect set-up – training on the 1992 course in Barcelona.

“We had great water and a lake pretty much to ourselves so we could concentrate doing those last pieces of work.

“It was absolutely perfect and we’ve no compromise in training and it was nice to be in the environment.”

Schofield and Heath will not be short of rivals for top spot on the podium when their heats get underway today, a fact that the 27-year-old is all-too aware of.

“The Germans are definitely one of the boats that’s our big competition, as would the French be as they’re the reigning world champions,” he added.

“There’s the Belorussian crew who are the Olympic champions in the K4 and the young Russian crews who have beaten us this year as well. There’s going to be a lot of crews close to each other.

“We’re going to be concentrating on our lane and we’ll look over when we’re finished.

“It’s an event they’ve never seen at the Olympics before – it’s the first time the 200m has been there.

“It’s incredible explosive and powerful, and it looks good. You’re going to see perfect tight racing with a lot of British interest.”

The K2 200m is making an Olympic debut and is the shortest race in either the canoeing or the rowing events.

  • Lloyds TSB, proud supporter of Team GB and proud partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Get closer to the Games at lloydstsb.com/london2012.