For a record 4th time, in the “City of Rivers”, Canoe Marathon World Championships starts in Gyor, Hungary this week. The best of the best will battle for “World Champion 2025” titles on the Danube itself to roaring crowds of local fans.

In this episode, Billy and Betsy preview the racing in depth. They start by examining the course, how it's changed since the last time Gyor hosted marathon world champs in 2015, and how the action might play out on the water.

Then they review the top contenders for the senior women's and senior men's races, go through their recent results and who's in good form, and commit to predictions for final podiums in the K1 races.

Will Melina Andersson take her second world championship title after her dominant performance at the World Games in China? Or will Vanda Kiszli take the title back on her home turf, and show everyone she's not done getting golds yet? Or perhaps the European champion Anna Sletsjoe, who beat Kiszli in a sprint finish, will find some of the same magic she had in Portugal and win in an upset...

In the men's race, Mads Pedersen is the defending champion and if it goes anything like the World Games did, he's likely to defend his title successfully. But the field is more competitive in Hungary, and word on the street (river) is that Andy Birkett is in better shape than his lack of international racing might indicate...

The doubles racing looks just as exciting, and K2 champion Adrian Boros who's K2 race in 2015 has become the stuff of legends, joins Paddlecast to talk about the course, the home turf advantage, and his strategy with partner Tamas Erdelyi to try and wrestle the crown away from the Portuguese on Sunday afternoon.

Betsy and Billy also touch on a few more exciting battles from other races, as well as the highlights that can be expected from the paracanoe racing. 2025 will be the first year that paracanoe is "officially" a world championship event, marking a big step forward in a sport that's been much more about sprint than distance. But the cross-over of top Paralympic sprinters like Serhii Yemilianov and now, in her international marathon debut, Jeannette Chippington, gives a small taste of the potential for marathon paracanoe to grow.

03:10 Course Preview (featuring Adrian Boros, and on-the-ground reporting from Billy)

13:37 Senior Women's Race Top Contenders (K1 and K2)

25:38 Senior Men's Race Top Contenders (K1 and K2)

49:48 Best Battles57:58 Paracanoe Preview

#marathonkayak #gyor2025 #marathoncanoe #worldchampionships