Last weekend, new European champions were crowned at the Sprint Canoe & Paracanoe European Championships in Racice. Conditions were hot and flat, and many paddlers were rewarded with new European Best Times.Some results were to be expected (Dorota Borowska of Poland successfully defended her C1 200m title from 2024; Gabriele Casadei / Carlo Tacchini of Italy won the men’s C2 500m; Anna Pulawska / Martyna Klatt of Poland won the women’s K2 500m) while others were unexpected…

Unexpected stand outs from Racice included the Portuguese men’s K4 (Gustavo Goncalves / Joao Ribeiro / Messias Baptista / Pedro Casinha), Martin Nathell(SWE), Zsoka Csikos (HUN), and the young rising stars of Alex Graneri (ESP), Lucrezia Zironi (ITA), and Viktoriia Yarchevska (ESP).

Fernando Pimenta made an incredible comeback just two weeks after winning two gold medals at European Marathon Championships in Ponte de Lima, Portugal, and after a couple of off-the-podium finishes at the Olympics and Szeged World Cup. He’s on such a career high right now that he even earned a comparison to Dutch runner Sifan Hassan…

After wrapping up the Sprint Euros review with some joyous celebration at the return of “normal” 5kms and the excitement of the less traditional mixed C4 race, Betsy and Billy move onto share updates on how Sebastian Szubski is progressing on his attempt to break the record for fastest circumnavigation of Britain by kayak.1

2 days in, Sebastian’s numbers are more easily comparable with Dougal’s (Dougal Glaisher, current holder of the record at 40 days) and it’s looking increasingly likely that Sebastian could break the record.

There’s two SUPdates this week on the last couple EuroTour events in Germany and Belgium (Nordhausen & Namur), as well as the largest paddling fundraiser in the world: Crossing for CF.

A preview of the top contenders at Berg River Marathon in South Africa, where the women’s field is looking exceptionally open and competitive while Hank McGregor aims for his 14th win in the men’s field.

Looking at the legendary Yukon River Quest that starts on the day of publication.

And lastly, a quick “warm down” on a few extra tidbits including a discussion on optimal blade size, the new “Apex” marathon kayak, and Erika Jaand’s accomplishment of becoming the first woman to solo kayak the Rhine River.

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01:12 Sprint Canoe European Championships race recap

28:49 Sebastian Szubski’s circumnavigation of Britain

37:05 Nordhausen SUP Race recap & Namur preview (Euro Tour SUP)

42:57 Crossing for CF (Cystic Fibrosis) race recap

45:38 Berg River Marathon (SA) race preview

49:19 Yukon River Quest preview

52:34 “The Warm Down” other tidbits of news

#racerecap #paddlingpodcast #fernandopimenta #sprintkayak #sprintcanoe #olympics #la2028 #yukonriverrace #standuppaddleboarding #supracer #surfskikayak #guinnessrecordattempt #kayakingaroundbritain #ultrapaddling #ultrapaddleracing #sebakayak #eurotoursup

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Useful Links:

Watch the Sprint Euros on the Olympics Channel: https://www.olympics.com/en/sport-events/2025-eca-canoe-sprint-paracanoe-european-championships-racice/replays

Sebastian Szubski’s GPS tracker: https://eur-share.explore.garmin.com/sebakayak

Yukon River Quest GPS tracker: https://www.yukonriverquest.com/yrq-race-tracker-2025/

Craig Sawyer’s Yukon 1000 documentary: https://www.yukon1000documentary.com/