Australia have named an imposing squad for the paracanoe event at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, led by war veteran and reigning world champion Curtis McGrath.

With paracanoe appearing at the Paralympic Games for the first time, Australia will be hot favourites to be in the medals in September.

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McGrath lost his legs in a bomb explosion in 2012 while serving as an Australian Army combat engineer in Afghanistan.

“It’s not every day that someone gets to represent their country on a sporting stage of that magnitude," McGrath said.

“I’ve done it once before on the battlefield in an army uniform and it’s a great honour to now be able to represent Australia again wearing green and gold."

With three world championship titles and a silver to his name, McGrath believes he has what it takes to claim a first Paralympic gold.

McGrath has dominated recent world championships and will be a strong favourite for gold at Rio 2016 (Photo: ICF/Balint Vekassy)

In total, Australia has won 16 world championship medals – seven gold, four silver and five bronze – since the discipline was first introduced to the world championships in 2010.

McGrath is one of six Australian paracanoe athletes to qualify for Rio 2016. Amanda Reynolds, world champion in 2015, will also be making her Paralympic debut in September.

“Making it to Rio was a goal that I set three years ago. To reach that goal is a big box ticked, but I think everyone’s goal now is to make the centre spot on the dais,” she said.

“We have an awesome team who have worked together over the past few years to get to where we are now. I’m excited to see the entire team perform at Rio.”

All the canoeing events at Rio 2016 will take place on the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in southern Rio. Athletes will race against each other on kayaks over a 200m course for both men and women in three different classes.