We’re set for a cracking week of racing here in Copenhagen and then over in Cold Hawaii, with dozens of the world’s top ranked paddlers on the start line for the 2017 ISA Worlds.

Throw in the new gender equality alongside a record 42 nations, and for the first time ever we’re going to see a big field of women alongside the men.

We’ve got 70 guys signed up for Saturday’s 18km distance race along with 56 women, and with the level of talent here this week it’s going to be mighty tough to predict. But despite the size of the field and depth of talent, there’s still only a handful in contention for the gold medal.

So here’s who I think will be fighting for the lead in Copenhagen this weekend, along with the ‘Big 5’ nations that I see dominating the overall teams leaderboard.

Scroll down to check out the athlete start lists, and check back next week for our ‘beach race’ predictions.

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Overall Teams Championship PREDICTIONS

1st: Team France
2nd: Team Australia
3rd: Team New Zealand
4th: Team Hawaii
5th: Team USA

Yep, I think France is going to steal the teams title from Australia. It’s going to be mighty tough, but I think France has the edge in a few of the events, while Australia has lost its advantage in the downsized-prone division (where France isn’t too far off the pace anyway). The difference could come down to the performance of Olivia Piana, who’s been in red hot form this summer and could realistically walk away with 2x top two finishes (and a big bag of points for her nation).

Behind the Frenchies and Aussies, I think New Zealand will be a clear third thanks to their strong prone squad plus the exploits of world number one Annabel Anderson, while I think Hawaii will have the overall edge over their mainland rivals.

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Women’s Distance Race PREDICTIONS

1st: Annabel Anderson (New Zealand)
2nd: Olivia Piana (France)
3rd: Fiona Wylde (USA)
4th: Terrene Black (Australia)
5th: Sonni Honscheid (Germany)
6th: Penelope Strickland (New Zealand)
7th: Amandine Chazot (France)
8th: Manca Notar (Slovenia)
9th: Susak Molinero (Spain)
10th: Jade Howson (USA)

Annabel the clear favourite but look for Olivia to go with her almost all the way. We’ll see how Fiona pulls up after her exhausting weekend in the Gorge, but she’s a sure bet for a medal, a good chance at a silver and an outside chance at the gold.

Women’s Distance Race RESULTS

How close did we get with the predictions? Here’s how it went down in Copenhagen today. See the recap and results of the women’s long distance race for more.

1st: Annabel Anderson (correct)
2nd: Sonni Honscheid (+4 spots)
3rd: Olivia Piana (-1)
4th: Fiona Wylde (-1)
5th: Amandine Chazot (+2)
6th: Terrene Black (-2)
7th: Laura Quetglas (++)
8th: Susak Molinero (+1)
9th: Erika Benitez (++)
10th: Manca Notar (-2)

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Men’s Distance Race PREDICTIONS

1st: Titouan Puyo (France)
2nd: Michael Booth (Australia)
3rd: Connor Baxter (Hawaii)
4th: Bruno Hasulyo (Hungary)
5th: Arthur Arutkin (France)
6th: Trevor Tunnington (New Zealand)
7th: James Casey (Australia)
8th: Mo Freitas (Hawaii)
9th: Kenny Kaneko (Japan)
10th: Ryan Funk (USA)

Very tight field. Too close to call. However I think Boothy and Titou will be a step above the rest. The flatter it is, the closer to the front Bruno Hasulyo will be, but I think the light winds and flotilla of tourist boats in Copenhagen harbour will whip up enough bumps to break up the trains.

Look for some chaotic buoy turns on the opening lap that could set the tone for the race. The contenders will want to be in the top five or six in that opening couple of kilmetres in case anything goes wrong at the turns.

All eyes will be on Boothy to see if he tries to break the field early like he has so many times, but I don’t think he’ll be able to get away this time. Either way, this race will be quite technical despite being billed as a long distance event; throw in the not-so-flat water and the 25 odd buoy turns, and I think we’ll see the packs getting broken up a lot quicker than usual.

Men’s Distance Race RESULTS

How close did we get with the predictions? Here’s how it went down in Copenhagen today. See the recap and results of the men’s long distance race for more.

1st: Bruno Hasulyo (+3)
2nd: Connor Baxter (+1)
3rd: Titouan Puyo (-2)
4th: Daniel Hasulyo (++)
5th: Mo Freitas (+3)
6th: Arthur Arutkin (-1)
7th: Martino Rogai (++)
8th: Paolo Marconi (++)
9th: Michael Booth (-7)
10th: Trevor Tunnington (-4)

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The sprints, which were an exhibition event last year in Fiji but count for full points and medals this time, will be an interesting little side event. It’ll also be an absolutely cut-throat event, with only the top two athletes progressing into a straight up final out of the four stacked heats.

Heat #1 is looking like the heat of death, with Casper, Connor and Slater – all contenders for the gold medal – lining up against each other. Based on these heat draws, I’ve come up with who I think will be the top 8 in the final.

Note: unlike the distance and beach race events, each nation has just one representative in the sprints.

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Women’s 200m Sprint Race PREDICTIONS

1st: Annabel Anderson (New Zealand)
2nd: Manca Notar (Slovenia)
3rd: Amandine Chazot (France)
4th: Erika Benitez (Mexico)
5th: Annie Reickert (Hawaii)
6th: Jade Howson (USA)
7th: Aline Adisaka (Brazil)
8th: Laura Bartl (Austria)

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Men’s 200m Sprint Race PREDICTIONS

1st: Trevor Tunnington (New Zealand)
2nd: Casper Steinfath (Denmark)
3rd: Slater Trout (USA)
4th: Lincoln Dews (Australia)
5th: Arthur Arutkin (France)
6th: Daniel Hasulyo (Hungary)
7th: Itzel Delgado (Peru)
8th: Chris Couve (South Africa)

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Women’s Beach Race PREDICTIONS

We’ll post these predictions next week closer to the race

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Men’s Beach Race PREDICTIONS

We’ll post these predictions next week closer to the race

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START LISTS

Click here to open the image below in a new tab (so that you can zoom in on the names).