HANNAH Brown is expecting to begin life as a full-time athlete next month after earning her first international senior call-up.

The 23-year-old paddler, from Bradford on Avon, has earned a place in Great Britain’s senior sprint team for the first World Cup of the season in Szeged, Hungary, on May 10-12 after finishing second and fourth in the K1 200m at the International Selection Regatta in Holme Pierrepont, near Nottingham, last month.

Brown is nearing the end of studying for a degree in marine biology at the University of Southampton and hopes that she will be able to commit more time to training with the elite squad.

“I’m really happy about going to a World Cup for a first time and it’ll be great to see what a senior international is like – it’s definitely a step in the right direction,” said the Bradford on Avon Canoe Club member.

“It’s going to be a great chance to get some experience and it’s something that I’ve been trying to do for a while.

“Because I’m still at uni, it is sometimes a bit hard to commit to as much training as you’d like. I got called up to two World Cups but I’ve got an exam at the same time as the second one (in Racice, Czech Republic on May 17-19).

“I only get up to train with the elite squad once a week and the rest of the time is spent with some other girls down in Southampton but from June, the plan is to try and move up near the base at Dorney Lake (near Eton).

“I’ll be training full-time then and it’ll be a lot different. There are just a few things left to sort out at the moment.”

Fellow Bradford on Avon paddler Ed McKeever, the Olympic K1 200m champion, is also competing in the World Cup events in Szeged and Racice.