HANNAH Brown is looking forward to seeing just how big a splash she can make when she takes to the water in her first-ever European Sprint Championships next week.

The 24-year-old, from Bradford on Avon, jets off to Germany next week to for her first taste of representing Great Britain at the Europeans, which take place on July 10-13 in Brandenburg.

Bradford on Avon canoe club member Brown became a K1 sprint discipline world champion at the 2013 ICF Wildwater Championships in Slovenia but missed out on the chance to defend her title this year due to a long-standing rib stress injury.

But with her problem subsiding, Brown, who competed in last year’s World Sprint Championships in Duisberg, is upbeat ahead of her European bow.

“It’s all been about managing the injury and organising training around it, but it’s been getting better and it’s been nice to have a solid month’s worth of training going into the Europeans – let’s see how I get on,” said the Great Britain paddler, who finished third in the K1 200m at last month’s National Regatta in Nottingham.

“A lot of people go from going to World Cups, then the Europeans and then the Worlds but I’m doing it in a slightly different order.

“I’m excited about going though. I think it’s going to be just as big as the Worlds but the format is slightly different and it’s going to be interesting to see how I get on with that.

“I’m pretty tired from all of the training we’ve done, but I feel like I’ve prepared properly and I’m ready to get out there. Obviously, I’d love to make the A final.”

Brown’s fellow Bradford on Avon international and London 2012 Olympic champion Ed McKeever will also be in action in the men’s K1 200m.

The 30-year-old took gold at the 2010 Europeans in Trasona, Spain, and made the podium in the following two years before finishing fifth at last year’s championships in Portugal.

MORE SPORTS NEWS & PICTURES IN THIS WEEK'S WILTSHIRE TIMES