IT MAY have been a breakthrough season for Bradley Forbes-Cryans on the World Cup circuit but the GB slalom canoeist is determined to keep his feet on the ground heading into this year’s World Championships.

Earlier this year former Edinburgh Academy pupil Forbes-Cryans was named among the GB squad that would train at the Lee Valley High Performance Centre for the 2015 season.

It represented a step up for Forbes-Cryans who last year had the role of completing the pre-competition demo runs for the canoeists on the World Cup circuit.

This summer, however, it has been the 20-year-old on the water in the races though, with his performances at the opening three World Cup races in Prague, Krakow and Liptovsky Mikulas leaving him 21st overall in the kayak individual rankings.

Just two World Cups remain this season in Spain and France at the start of next month and whatever the outcome, Forbes-Cryans insists he has plenty of reason for optimism going forward.

“I came into the season not expecting anything to be honest and it came around to senior selection and I knew I had prepared really well for it and it happened,” he said.

“I tried to be myself on the start line and just focus on the process throughout the whole event and it came off well for me on the day.

“Last year I was doing demo runs at the World Cups but this year was my first exposure to the real World Cup circuit and I have loved every race.

“In the first three World Cups we trained pretty hard and I didn’t expect anything but I got some good results with two top-20 finishes.

“I have been told by other people a few times I am just outside the top 20s so if I could achieve that then it would be really nice, not only for myself but also everyone who has put a lot of effort into my career.”

The World Cups also double up as valuable preparation for Forbes-Cryans ahead of the World Championships at his home course of Lee Valley from September 16-20.

However, he insists he is not looking too far ahead with the competitions in La Seu d’Urgell on the weekend of August 7-9 and then Pau, France, a week later, his first priority.

“We have pulled back on the training a bit ahead of this fourth World Cup but I am not going to be expecting anything. I am just going to do the best I can out there,” he added.

“I didn’t have any expectations [of potentially finishing in the top 20] coming into this season, I was just looking to gain as much experience as I could. Anything else was a bonus at the start.

“In Pau I’m hoping to learn from my mistakes in the previous rounds. They are not big mistakes, just small things to take from them and hopefully I can put them together to hopefully make the final in Pau and then go into the World Championships.”

See the world’s top canoe slalom athletes in action on the Olympic course in London at the Canoe Slalom World Championships. Tickets: www.ticketmaster.co.uk/london2015