The 23-year-old, who won Rio 2016 Olympic silver medals in the C1 1,000m and C2 1,000m and a bronze medal in the C1 200m, appeared comfortable in the heats and semi-finals on Lake Budeasa.

The final is scheduled for Saturday (July 29).

"This is my last year paddling in the under-23s and my first event in this competition," Queiroz Dos Santos, who finished second at the ICF World Cup event in Hungarian city Szeged in May, said.

"I’m very happy my coach gave his consent for me to race here, because it is a very different competition.

"I don’t feel any extra pressure because of my Olympic results."

Queiroz dos Santos is now a household name throughout Brazil and is looking forward to the upcoming ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, which are scheduled to take place in Czech village Račice from August 23 to 27.

"My first objective is the World Championships in Račice, but I’m feeling pretty relaxed," he said.

"My life had a big change after the Rio Olympics because I had become a more popular athlete, the first one in my sport [to win three medals in one Olympics].

"But now the focus for me is the Tokyo 2020 Olympics."

There were no major surprises on day one of competition, which was raced in almost perfect conditions.

Belgium’s Artuur Peters was the fastest qualifier in the men’s under-23 K1 1,000m, while Australia’s Alyssa Bull was the quickest in the women’s K1 1,000m.

The rivalry between Hungary’s Virag Balla and Alena Nazdrova of Belarus in the C1 500m is set to resume on Saturday after both comfortably qualified for the under-23 final.

Nazdrova defeated Balla at the ICF World Cup event in Serbia’s capital Belgrade earlier this month, but the Hungarian turned the tables when the pair met at the European Championships in Bulgarian city Plovdiv.

Action in Pitesti is due to continue tomorrow.