Top-ranked paddlers from 55 countries spend Canada Day racing in Dartmouth, N.S

Top-ranked paddlers from 55 countries are spending Canada Day racing in Dartmouth, N.S., for the first day of the Canoe Sprint World Championship.

Ian Gaudet, a 22-year-old athlete representing Team Canada at the five-day event, said hearing the roar of fans in his hometown helped propel the C4 crew to a second-place finish in their heat.

"The energy is absolutely electrifying for us in the water. It's so great to have a home-crowd advantage and I do believe that it's definitely helping us paddle faster," he said in an interview after Wednesday's race.

With the second-place finish, the boat moves directly to the finals for the under-23 International Canoe Federation event, which is scheduled for Friday.

Gaudet said the four-person, 500-metre dash was a "super fun" race for the team that has only been training together for about a week.

The Canadian team finished 0.54 seconds behind the team from Hungary.

"We came together and put together a really good race and we're happy with the result," he said.

Gaudet grew up training at the Banook Canoe Club, and said it's special to race at this calibre on the water that feels like home.

"I've been paddling on this lake for almost my whole life, since I was a little kid... so it's absolute amazing that I get to finally race on my home lake, by my home club. And everybody I know can come watch," he said.

Hundreds of spectators and dozens of volunteers lined the lake in Dartmouth, where fans, many decked out in red and white, cheered the athletes on.

Canada's Sophia Jensen paddles to silver at season-opening Canoe Sprint World Cup

Among those fans were Makenna Ruelokke and Jack Theunissen, who described the atmosphere of the event as upbeat and fun.

Theunissen got to cheer on his