Such was the competition in the final, 2004 Olympic silver medallist Ben Fouhy could only manage third place in the race.
He trailed Auckland's Martyn McDowell and Olympian Darryl Fitzgerald, from Gisborne.
"I was definitely pushed right to the end by Marty," Fitzgerald said, after winning by the slightest of margins.
"But it was good to win against a really good field. It was a good blow out for the first race of the season."
He went on to say it was also an important race for New Zealand selection.
"So it was good to have my name at the top."
He started pulling away during the third 250m stage but got chased down a bit in the last quarter of the race.
Fitzgerald said Lake Tikitapu was always a great surface to race on, despite the rainy conditions.
Athletes in the K1, K2 and K4 events will have another chance to put their names forward for New Zealand selection during the nationals, which are in Rotorua in February.
The country's best sprint canoeists will compete at the Oceania champs in Australia in March before beginning the full international season.
McDowell said he was happy with his second place effort in the MK1 1000m after recently returning to competitive sprint canoeing.
He said his goal was to go one better and beat Fitzgerald during the nationals in February.
Other events featured on the day included novice, under-13, under-14, under-16, under-18, under-23, open and masters races.
Canoe Racing New Zealand chief executive Mark Weatherall said it was encouraging that they had 196 paddlers at the event this year, up by about 30 on last year in Rotorua.
"It is quite a bit bigger than last year and the female side of the sport is really taking off."
He said that had a lot to do with Lisa Carrington's success at the Olympics last year.
"The next challenge for us is seeing who will be the next Lisa," he said.
