Today, athletes from the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club will begin competing at the 13th annual International Canoe Federation Junior Canoe Sprint World Championships in Moscow.

Nine of the 15 junior athletes selected to be on the U.S. Junior National Canoe/Kayak Team competing in the world competition through Sunday are from the Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club.

Cannie Ash, Katelyn Dill, Ben Hefner, Jared McArthur, Chris Miller, Luke Potts, Zach Robertson, Chelsea Smith and Morgan Smith have been training most of the summer at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, NY and will put that hard work to the test during this bi-annual event.

The Lanier Canoe and Kayak Club will also have six of its senior athletes competing for the U.S. in the Senior National Canoe/Kayak team.

Robert Finlayson, Tim Hornsby, Morgan House, Emily Mickle, Alejandro Schwedhelm and Emily Vinson will compete at the 2009 International Canoe Federation World Senior Sprint Canoe Championships in Halifax-Dartmouth, Canada from Aug. 12-16.

The ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships will contain athletes from 75 countries and will be televised on every continent.