The men's K1 trio of Ben Haylett, Sam Leaver and Joe Clarke MBE were first to reach the podium and they were swiftly followed by the women's C1 team as Kimberley Woods, Mallory Franklin and Ellis Miller combined for third place.

Haylett, Leaver and Clarke finished in 86.98, just under seven-tenths of a second behind winners France on what turned out to be a congested podium.

Haylett said: “We knew it was a good run and all three of us were really happy with it.

“I felt like me and Joe worked really well at the back and Sam gave us good space to do so. What more could we ask for? Today we were beaten but we're proud to have put down such a performance.”

Leaver added: “The bottom part was where we saw some key moments. We executed those key moments decently, hence why we are third, but probably not exceptionally, hence why we are not first.”

Leaver and Clarke will compete in Friday's kayak semi-finals, with the final to follow, after qualifying from the heats in ninth and 17th respectively. Haylett missed out on progressing after a 50-second penalty at gate 16 in his heat consigned him to a 50th-place finish.

In the women's C1 team event, Woods, Franklin and Miller bounced back superbly to force their way into the medals having narrowly missed out at the World Championships in Oklahoma.

They trailed by more than four seconds but recovered to take the lead and though they were overhauled by France and hosts Italy, who took gold, their time of 109.33 was enough for bronze.

It marked a first medal since returning from maternity leave for Franklin, who said: “It started really well, but Ellis had her mistake which I only learned about after I turned round in gate 9.

“We all held the run together and finished it strongly, which I think is what got us the bronze. It is never fun waiting, especially with good teams coming, but it's really cool to stay on the podium.”

Franklin will also go for glory on dual individual fronts after making it through to the C1 and K1 semi-finals.She qualified second in the C1 heats, clocking 91.85, where she will be joined in the semis by both Miller and Woods. Franklin will be the only British representative in the K1 semi-finals after her time of 91.59 in the heat was good enough for 19th. Lois Leaver and Woods narrowly missed out in 32nd and 34th respectively – only the top 30 advance.

Franklin, Leaver and Woods came together for the women's K1 team final, finishing ninth after being hit with a 50-second penalty at gate 16, while Peter Linksted, Ryan Westley and Adam Burgess finished seventh in the men's C1 team final.

All three qualified for the individual semi-finals, with Linksted 12th fastest in the heats in 85.27. Westley was 21st in 86.29, with Burgess 25th in 87.09.