Paddlecast

It was one of many shocks in Gualeguaychu, Argentina at the Canoe Marathon World Championships, but even so, this was the biggest upset of the weekend.

Valdemar Jørgensen had won the Under 23 marathon barely more than one day before the final race of the weekend in a tough shoot-out that went right down to the wire. He was paired up with Jonathan Dagnæs Hansen, who blasted off the start line of the Surfski World Championships a couple weeks prior and arrived first at the turn buoy by a notable margin before ultimately finishing in 10th. They were a new K2 team, one without major international titles in marathon (aside from Valdemar’s fresh U23 win), and widely considered as not even the top K2 pick from Denmark. With the biggest names in the sport (including Mads Pedersen / Philip Knudsen, Jose Ramalho / Fernando Pimenta, Adrian Boros / Tamas Erdelyi…), almost no one had this team as a pick to win.

And once the race got going, their odds of winning seemed to drop even further. In the first few minutes of the race, they got caught up in a clash mid-pack and dropped back to the chase group. Valdemar / Jonathan were hardly on screen for most of the race. But every time the camera caught them, they were racing hard (leading the chase pack) and persistent hunting of the front group finally allowed them to reach the front of the race. Despite having led for so long in the chase, they somehow had enough energy left to jump straight to the front of the lead group. And once they got in front, there was no stopping them until the finish.

Valdemar and Jonathan have established their prowess on the world stage with a splash. On this episode of Paddlecast, they share more about where they came from (not really out of nowhere), who may have underestimated them and who didn’t, and where they’re headed from here. 

After chatting with Valdemar and Jonathan, Betsy and Billy take a few minutes to review a few more of the best races at Worlds, including the upset in the Senior Women’s K1 race (Melina’s trip and Bec Mann’s historic win) and the now famous Balboa DSQ: is that move ever okay, and what do the rules actually say. Plus Mads’ 10th world title, and standouts in the junior races.

Marathon World Championships is headed to South America! It's a milestone moment proving that marathon canoe is a truly global sport even if most national powerhouses are European. Some teams have had to reduce team size due to the long and expensive travel, which certainly has downsides, but also means the average level of paddler racing is an extremely high standard.

From the increasingly tight competition in the Junior Girls field to the most hotly contested race of Senior Men's K2 at the end of the weekend, the line-ups are brilliant and the racing will be fierce.

Who will have the best portage? (One paddler has the best put-in, but another paddler is the fastest runner). Who's coming in hot after a disappointing Europeans? (Several big names were affected by extreme heat in Romania or just the standard mishaps that come with marathon racing). Who's going to challenge Mads in the men's marathon, and will they finally manage to take the world title he's defended almost perfectly the last 7 years? (At least two paddlers have proven they can rise to the occasion). Or will Mads pull a Mads again and drop the entire field on lap 1 or 2?

Racing starts with Paracanoe on Wednesday and continues with Short Course Thursday, then K1 and K2 marathons Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Watch live on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel (paywalled).

The Paddle Worldwide (ICF) Canoe Ocean Racing are scheduled for this weekend in Villajoyosa, Spain. The singles (SS1) and doubles (SS2) racing will take place between Friday the 9th and Sunday the 11th.Taking place on the Mediterranean Sea with expected wind chop but no current, this year's world champs will look pretty different from Durban -- to the relief of some racers caught out by the surf, and to the great disappointment of worldwide spectators who squeezed gasps and laughs out of those video clips for months after.Rosie Edwards joins Paddlecast to recap her European Championships racing where she earned her first title of overall European Champion while still Under 23. She's heading into Worlds now with a goal of defending her Under 23 World title from last year where she also finished in 3rd place overall behind Kira Bester and Danielle Richards.After chatting with Rosie, Billy and Betsy go in-depth on all the top contenders and make their predictions for who will come out of this weekend with the 2026 world titles.*Since recording, the start lists have been updated and finalised, and one notable new name was Pat Dolan from Hawaii. Pat took the new Molokai record ahead of Cory Hill in an epic paddle in 2025, and should be considered a top contender in the men's SS1 race.**Unfortunately there was a technical issue with Rosie's audio, so her voice drops out a few places, but the disruptions are very brief and don't affect the content.

As the final relay team rosters were submitted this week, a thrilling figure appeared: after the Thames 200 Ultra started with 97 paddlers in 2024, its set to more than triple that in 2026. In just the third edition of the race, the number of competitors has already tripled to over 300.The newest, fastest-growing, and perhaps the most accessible ultra paddling race in the world: the Thames 200 Ultra is set for another action-packed 200km this weekend.

Starting in Lechlade-on-Thames and finishing in Teddington, the race includes non-stop solo racers in kayaks and SUPs, non-stop doubles racers, and relay teams featuring everyone from first-time racers to European and World medallists in marathon kayak racing.The Chelmsford (& friends) vs. Richmond (& friends) rivalry returns, with both teams stacked full of elite K2s. In 2025, these teams finished just 5 minutes apart after more than 15 hours of racing.

Fighting for 3rd, and maybe challenging the two leaders, Bradford-on-Avon is back again with top team "Bradford Bin Juice & Greg" leading the way. While all three of their K2s have the speed, their smaller team size means they'll have to double up and each cover about 60km rather than just about 30km.

Follow live updates all weekend at https://paddledaily.com/thames-200-ultra-2026-live and on the Paddle Daily and Thames 200 Ultra social media accounts.

In temperatures reaching 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Farenheit), the best marathon canoe paddlers in Europe battled for the titles of European Champion. Ivan Lawler spent the weekend watching every race and commentating for the Paddle Europe live stream. Betsy joined in commentary for three of those days. But there was still more to talk about off-air.

The two most exciting races of the weekend, the K1 Senior Men's marathon and K2 Senior Men's marathon, showed that Mads Pedersen is not unbeatable. While he successfully reclaimed his title as K1 European Champion after missing last year's event, Mads faced a very serious challenge from Jon Amund Vold in a race that came down to the final portage and last few hundred metres. In K2, perhaps the effort from the prior day racing in such high temperatures played a role in Pedersen's race with Philip Knudsen, and the pair finished in 6th after looking a bit worse for wear on the water and making questionable decisions on their final portage. It was Adrian Boros / Tamas Erdelyi who won that K2 race in a sprint finish where they exceeded speeds of 20 km/h. All three podium crews (Hungary, Spain, Portugal) ran tactically superb races.

The absence of Melina Andersson from the Senior Women's races opened things up for dominant performances by Anna Sletsjoe in both the short and long course. She kept fans guessing until the last moments of the short course, but ultimately proved that careful tactics combined with top end speed is her perfect recipe for gold medals.

Looking ahead to the Marathon World Championships in Argentina in October, an immense question hangs over both the Senior Men's and Senior Women's races: how long will this age of "The On and On'ers", The Grinders, Mads and Melina -- last? And who will be the first to successfully defeat them?

October will bring more nations (South Africa) and more top competitors (Melina Andersson, Fernando Pimenta). Even if the Age of On and On'ers continues with the expected victories for Mads and Melina, this year's European Championships proved that the sprinters are coming for them sooner or later.

Re-watch all the live streaming from Pitesti on the Paddle Europe YouTube Channel  ⁨@PaddleEurope⁩  and watch interviews and race highlights via Paddle Daily on Instagram or Facebook.#ipaddleforeurope #marathoncanoe #sprintkayak #sprintcanoe #pitesti

Reigning European Champions Anna Sletsjøe and James “Jimbo” Russell have just a few short days before they have to face the best in Europe to defend their 2025 titles. The 2026 European Marathon Championships start on Wednesday 24th June and continue until Sunday 28th June in Pitesti, Romania on the Pitesti-Bascov course.

Anna and James revisit the races they won this time last year to earn their titles, career bests in marathon racing for both paddlers, and share their strategies for how they’ll plan to defend their titles in Romania.

In the women’s K1 race, Anna will have tough competition but with the last minute realisation that Melina Andersson is not racing, Anna has a great shot at potentially winning her second title.

In the men’s K1 race, Mads Pedersen is racing and based on the form he’s shown in the 5k at recent sprint World Cups and European Sprint Championships, the crown may be his for the taking. But with the course being on a flat lake typically used for sprints, a strong group could make it hard for Mads to pull away as early and clearly as he did at Worlds in Gyor, Hungary last year. Jon Amund Vold’s performance in the 5k at European Sprint Championships the other day showed that it is possible to stick with Mads for at least 5k…

The event will begin with the exciting short course format and paracanoe races (men’s KL3 will be very hotly contested), and will also feature some great high kneel canoeing and age group racing. The Senior Women’s and Men’s K2 races will wrap things up on Sunday afternoon, and the men’s race in particular promises fierce competition and a re-match between the Danish crew of Mads Pedersen / Philip Knudsen versus the experienced Hungarian pair of Adrian Boros / Tamas Erdelyi.

Betsy will be in Romania covering the racing in-person, so be sure to follow along on the Paddle Daily social media accounts (Instagram and Facebook).

#marathoncanoe #sprintcanoe #olympian #europeanchampionships #pitesti

70 miles from Cooperstown to Bainbridge in upstate New York, the General Clinton Canoe Regatta is the first race in the annual Triple Crown of Canoe Racing. On this special episode of Paddlecast, Rebecca Davis joins Betsy to talk about marathon canoe racing versus marathon canoe racing, and who are the top contenders to win this year’s Clinton on Sunday May 24th.Betsy will be live streaming the General Clinton Canoe Regatta on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtzgFtwJ4sE On Paddlecast, hosts Billy and Betsy usually talk about the marathon canoe racing discipline that’s most popular in Europe: mostly kayakers, mostly flat water, the type that you’d watch at the ICF Marathon World Championships. Not to say that’s an exclusive definition of this type of marathon canoe racing: there’s high kneel canoeists, sit-and-switch canoeists, ultra distance races, weirs in the UK and Ireland, rapids and dams in South Africa… And that type of marathon canoe racing exists in North America too, albeit at a much smaller scale. Although the US hosted the Marathon World Championships in 2014 in Oklahoma, the last time the US sent more than one paddler to race at Worlds was in 2018.But the General Clinton and the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing represent the elite, world-class side of another discipline of marathon canoe racing. “Sit-and-switch” is an accurate description because paddlers are seated in the canoe and switch sides (unlike high kneel canoeing, where paddlers are kneeling and do not switch sides). The pro class racers use carbon fibre canoes with a sort of diamond shape: narrow at the bow and stern for efficiency, but wide at the centre, creating “secondary stability” and drag that’s used to steer efficiently around tight corners in fast-flowing water. As Rebecca explains in the episode, the discipline is perfectly suited to the venue (the type of water in North America), and the section of the Susquehanna River that the 70 miler covers may be the best example of that.There’s no one better than Rebecca Davis to dive into the strengths of each of these crews, and what this year’s Clinton may hold for them. Rebecca is one of the most accomplished marathon canoe racers ever, and has consistently been the fastest woman (or at least one of the fastest) for more than 15 years. She holds the women’s record for the Ausable River Canoe Marathon (15:15:36 in 2019 with Edith MacHattie) and constantly pushes the limits of how highly women’s and mixed crews are expected to finish in the overall standings.Rebecca holds some of the most in-depth technical knowledge of marathon canoeing of any paddler. She shares some of that knowledge regularly as a host of the Canoe Race World Podcast (linked below), and on this episode of Paddlecast.00:10 What is the General Clinton Canoe Regatta00:49 Introducing Rebecca Barton Davis03:53 Marathon Canoe Racing versus Marathon Canoe Racing08:32 What makes the Clinton a great race10:06 Where does the Clinton fit in the context of the Triple Crown of Canoe Racing14:54 Race Preview: Women’s Race29:30 Race Preview: Mixed Race35:45 Race Preview: Men’s Race (Overall)50:01 A big change in the sport of marathon canoe racing - the introduction of drug testing and USADA compliance at the Ausable River Canoe MarathonListen to the Canoe Race World podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/3sFReuwVE5aCzRunfyvW9a

The world’s biggest marathon race is in Estonia, and it’s only been around for 20 years.

The Võhandu Marathon starts on Lake Tamula in the city of Võru, and follows the Võhandu River for 100 kilometres to the Võõpsu boat harbor in Põlvamaa. 1,341 boats started the race in 2025, the largest participation yet. The types of paddlers tackling the Võhandu run the gamut from those who’ve never held a paddle before to elite international marathon medallists. The event welcomes inflatable rafts, SUPs, canoes, kayaks… Any human-powered craft that can handle both the lake and the rapids.

At the invitation of Team Tetsmann-Baum, Paddlecast co-host Billy Butler flew out to Estonia to race his first Võhandu just two weeks after winning DW. Billy and partner Tom Dawson finished 4th place overall, behind the Czech crews of Petr Mojzisek / Jakub Zavrel and Lukas Horak / Oldrich Dasek and South African Tom Lovemore (K1). The fastest mixed crew was Gautier Rotman / Sabine Rotman from France, while Team Tetsmann-Baum won the women’s race despite an early stroke of bad luck.

Linda Tetsmann and Anette Baum teamed up a few years ago after a conversation in the sauna made them realise they both had the same ambition to race the Yukon. In 2023, they won the Yukon 1000 outright, becoming the first women’s crew to do so. Their race was documented as part of Craig Sawyer’s film about the 2023 Yukon 1000, “Push Past Impossible”. That’s just one of many wins and top results they’ve racked up since 2019 across many (most?) of the world’s biggest marathon and ultra marathon paddling races. They’ve raced the Český Krumlov River Marathon, the Yukon River Quest, the Devizes to Westminster, Dordogne Intégrale, Descenso Internacional del Sella, Ardèche Marathon, Loire 725, and more. This year, their main goal is to win the Alabama 650.

With their title sponsor, HUUM Sauna, by their side – Linda and Anette are pioneering a new way to race.

00:23 Introduction to the Vohandu Marathon, Billy’s race, and race results

14:39 Interview with Linda Tetsmann & Anette Baum

Learn more about Team Tetsmann-Baum: https://www.tetsmannbaumteam.ee/

Watch “Push Past Impossible”, the documentary about the Yukon 1000: https://www.yukon1000.org/yukon-1000-documentary/

Learn more about the Alabama 650, one of the longest paddling races in the world: https://www.alabamascenicrivertrail.com/great-alabama-650/race/

And look for “Team Tetsmann Baum” on social media to follow all of Linda and Anette’s upcoming adventures.

#ultrapaddling #teamtetsmannbaum #huumsauna #estonia #vohandumaraton #kayaking #adventureracing

"The canoeist's Everest." "The hardest thing I've ever done." "I can do anything now". There's a million ways to describe the feeling of walking up the steps at Westminster Bridge having completed 125 miles of paddling. But every paddler who's done it knows the same feeling. On Easter Sunday, more than 80 intrepid paddlers experienced the feeling of finishing the 125 mile, non-stop Devizes to Westminster canoe race.

Billy Butler and Jon O'Grady took the overall win in their third attempt together as a crew: they finished 2nd in 2024 and 3rd in 2025, so this win has been a long time coming. "It's about time we pulled something out the bag," said Jon. "I think it proves to people that if you work hard at it, you can get it," said Billy. The win was hard-fought against the second place crew of Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory, who led the race from Pewsey to Marlow after gaining 5 minutes on Billy / Jon during the portage-heavy stretch of canal. It was Magnus' first DW attempt and first finish. Asked how he felt at Westminster, he emphatically replied: "Awful!" Alex and Magnus are one of several top mixed crews to finish Top 3 in the last few years, and rumour has it that Alex is already considering another run at DW in 2027 -- or at least she'll think about it after she completes the running ultra race she has planned later this year.

George Durden / James Walkinton of Elmbridge Canoe Club and Chelmsford Canoe Club finished in 3rd place following a stunning performance on the Tideway that was quick enough to overtake 4th place, Luke Escott / James Webster of Bradford on Avon Canoe Club. George and James started the race relatively slow, just focused on getting to the finish in their first non-stop DW attempt. But when they got to Teddington, they found enough energy in reserve that they paddled an exceptional time of 1 hour 50 minutes from Teddington to Westminster.

All three crews join this double episode (triple?) of Paddlecast to talk about what was going on behind the scenes: Alex was recovering from a torn hamstring, Magnus used his 221 sprint blades to race, Jon thought briefly at Elmbridge that his shoulder might stop them from finishing the race, and George / James almost decided not to enter because the lean in their boat was so bad.

0:00:24 DW Race Recap & Results vs Predictions

0:22:26 - Billy Butler / Jon O’Grady Interview (1st Place)

0:56:06 - Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory Interview (2nd Place, 1st Mixed)

1:37:24 - George Durden / James Walkinton Interview (3rd Place)

Devizes to Westminster 2026: Notable Results

1st: Billy Butler / Jon O’Grady, 16:46:17 *1st Veteran

2nd: Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory, 17:08:41 *1st Mixed

3rd: George Durden / James Walkinton, 17:28:38

4th: Luke Escott / James Webster, 17:44:14

5th: Tom Dawson / Aritz Martiartu, 18:41:56

6th: Jouke Witteveen / Floor Zegers, 18:55:45 *Dutch Record

7th: Mike Thornton / Shirine Voller, 19:08:20 *1st Canoe *2nd Mixed

8th: Laurence Plant / Cath Drummond, 19:50:38 *3rd Mixed

Alex Bowyer / Elle Bowyer, 21:33:09 *Mixed Services Record

Anja Whelan / Rebecca Bird, 22:15:00 *1st Women’s/Ladies

125 miles (200 km) from a small town in the countryside to the centre of one of the biggest cities in the world. DW 2026 is finally here!

The competition will be fierce, with returners and newly formed crews fighting hard for the win. In the race for the overall win, a Top 5 crews have become clear in recent weeks, with an outside chance for a 6th crew.

Billy Butler / Jon O'Grady finished 2nd in 2024, and 3rd in 2025, and they're betting on third time lucky to finally take their first win together this year (Billy has a previous win with Jim King from 2017).

Their biggest rivals will be Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory, both former international marathon paddlers who've shown that they're the crew to beat based on their results at this year's Newbury Canoe Club Waterside Series. Alex was the second woman to win DW outright when she finished first with Dan Seaford in 2019, and she also holds the overall women's race record since 2017 with Kat Burbeck (Wilson).

George Durden and James Walkinton finished 1st and 2nd in K1 at the 2025 DW Stages race last year, and decided to hop into the same boat this year to make their bid at a podium finish. It will be the first non-stop DW for both of them, but they've consistently finished as one of the quickest crews on the Waterside Series, and have a great shot at the podium and maybe even the overall win.

Luke Escott / James Webster have shown top results at the Watersides and are looking to get their first Westminster finish, and the Dutch crew of Jouke Witteveen and Floor Zegers are back for their third year in a row to see if they can capture the International win again. Jouke is already in the 1,000 mile club at DW, but wants to make it 1,000 miles specifically winning the international trophy.

There's an outside chance for Tom Dawson with partner Aritz from Spain, who haven't raced together in the UK this year, but could be surprise top contenders if everything goes there way.

The women's race has been heating up over the Waterside Series with a rivalry developing between Shuna Neave / Sarah Vernau and Anja Whelan / Rebecca Bird. Shuna and Sarah have been clearly leading the Waterside races and Shuna has plenty of DW experience, but Anja and Rebecca jumped in speed at Waterside C to finish only 2 minutes behind Shuna and Sarah, so it could be very tight.

The mixed race this year seems to be filled with couples, making it the "love boat" race. Alex and Magnus are far and ahead the favourites to win, but the race for 2nd and 3rd is shaping up to be very close. Overall winner for the last two years, Anoushka Freeman has opted for a different type of race this year teaming up with her partner, Rob Perry who has taken up paddling just to race DW. They've been training hard for months, and recently won the mixed crew Waterside Series crown.Right behind them have been Simon Tilbury-Clarke / Jessica Long and Alex Bowyer / Elle Bowyer, who were separated by just seconds at Waterside C. Both are strong, experienced DW crews who should have a good battle to the finish. It's too tight to call between these crews!

How to watch Devizes to Westminster (DW) 2026: Paddler Media's live stream will be live at the start in Devizes on Saturday afternoon, and live again on Sunday morning following the crews until they finish at Westminster. Watch on YouTube by going to the "Live" section of the Paddler Media channel. The tide window at Teddington this year is 5 am - 7:30 am, with high tide at 5:30.

00:24 - About the Devizes to Westminster & this year’s conditions

9:29 - Predictions for the Top 5 Crews: Alex Lane / Magnus Gregory, Billy Butler / Jon O’Grady, George Durden / James Walkinton, Luke Escott / James Webster, Jouke Witteveen / Floor Zegers, and with an outside chance: Tom Dawson / Aritz Martiartu

42:10 - Women’s Race Preview

46:44 - Mixed Race (“The Love Boat Race”) Preview

#devizestowestminster #devizestowestminster2026 #marathoncanoe