News

The second day of the 2026 Paddle Europe Stand Up Paddling Championships brought the Technical races to Agios Nikolaos and added another seven official European titles to the continental programme.

Denmark's Christian Andersen and Italy's Cecilia Pampinella claimed the Open titles, while Portugal's Lourenço Viveiros and Italy's Sveva Sabato topped the Junior categories. In the Masters divisions, George Fragkos of Greece, Gabriel Culea of Romania and Penny Tsaoutou of Greece completed the list of official European champions.

As on the opening day, the Masters 40+ Women category does not count for the official European Championship medal table, as the event did not meet the minimum participation requirement in terms of represented countries.

Andersen defends his Technical crown

The Open Men's Technical final saw Denmark's Christian Andersen successfully retain the European title he first won in Szeged in 2024.

Andersen completed the course in 5:30.340, finishing ahead of Donato Freens of the Netherlands in 5:31.380, while Spain's Manuel Hoyuela took bronze in 5:38.637.

For Hoyuela, it was another strong day in Agios Nikolaos. After taking bronze in Sprint on Friday, he returned to the podium in Technical and repeated the same medal he won in the discipline at the inaugural European Championships in 2024.

The final also included several other major names from the European field, including Greece's Phaedon Doukas and sprint champion Matei Barbu, but Andersen once again proved the strongest in Technical.

Pampinella doubles up in the Open Women's field

Italy's Cecilia Pampinella continued her excellent championships by adding the Open Women's Technical title to the Sprint gold she had already won on the opening day.

Pampinella won in 6:35.112, ahead of Poland's Marta Apanasewicz in 6:40.293 and fellow Italian Claudia Postiglione in 6:40.856.

That result means Pampinella becomes the first athlete in Agios Nikolaos to complete the Open Sprint–Technical double, while Apanasewicz improved on the bronze medal she had won in Sprint one day earlier.

Postiglione also returned to the podium, and notably repeated the same bronze medal she earned in Open Women's Technical at the first European Championships in Szeged.

Viveiros and Sabato confirm their class in the Junior finals

Portugal's Lourenço Viveiros confirmed his status as one of the rising names of European SUP by taking the Junior Men's Technical title in 5:50.545.

Italy's Gianluca Corriero claimed silver in 6:01.369, while Greece's Manos Farsaris took bronze in 6:04.042.

For Viveiros, it was a second gold medal in as many days after his Junior Men's Sprint victory, making him one of the standout performers of the championships so far.

The Junior Women's final produced another Italian success as Sveva Sabato won the European title in 6:35.107. Lisa Venturelli added silver in 6:47.490, while Greece's Erasmia Malekaki took bronze in 6:52.029.

Sabato's victory was especially significant given that she came into Agios Nikolaos as the 2025 Junior Women's Technical World Champion. Venturelli, meanwhile, collected her second silver medal of the championships after also finishing runner-up in Sprint, while Malekaki matched her Sprint bronze with another third place in Technical.

Fragkos turns the tables in Masters 40+

In the Masters 40+ Men category, Greece's George Fragkos moved from silver in Sprint to gold in Technical.

Fragkos won in 6:03.202, ahead of Portugal's Rui Ramos in 6:13.567 and Italy's Alessandro Sapigni in 6:17.547.

The result reversed the outcome of Friday's Sprint event, where Germany's Martin Teichmann had beaten Fragkos for the title. This time, the Greek paddler claimed top spot on home water, while Teichmann finished fourth.

Culea and Tsaoutou remain perfect in Masters 50+

Romania's Gabriel Culea continued his winning run in the Masters 50+ Men category by taking a second European title of the week.

Culea won the Technical final in 6:50.922, with Italy's Daniele Cani second in 6:56.272 and Greece's Eleftherios Maroulakis third in 7:01.664.

That made it back-to-back gold medals for the Romanian after his Sprint victory on Friday, while Cani added a second silver medal to the one he had already won in Sprint.

In the Masters 50+ Women event, Greece's Penny Tsaoutou also completed the double, following up her Sprint title with victory in Technical.

Tsaoutou won in 7:19.554, ahead of Great Britain's Sara Maxey in 7:29.498 and Italy's Anna Occhiogrosso in 7:37.602.

Like Culea, Tsaoutou now has two European titles from the opening two days. Maxey also became another athlete to medal in both disciplines, after winning silver in Sprint and repeating that result in Technical.

Luchetta first in Masters 40+ Women, but no European title awarded

The Masters 40+ Women's Technical race was won by Italy's Claudia Luchetta ahead of compatriot Vira Lemekha and AIN athlete Olga Merkulova.

However, as in Sprint, the category did not meet the minimum requirement in terms of participating countries, meaning no official European Championship title was awarded and the result is excluded from the medal table.

Greece leads the standings after two days

With two disciplines completed, Greece remains at the top of the overall medal table with four gold, two silver and five bronze medals.

Italy sits second with three gold, five silver and three bronze medals, while Romania is third thanks to its three gold medals, all won by Matei Barbu and Gabriel Culea across the first two days.

Portugal has also enjoyed an excellent championships so far, with Lourenço Viveiros completing the Junior Men's Sprint and Technical double and Rui Ramos adding a silver medal in Masters 40+ Men.

Across the first two days, 14 official European titles have now been awarded, with six countries having already produced European champions.

European Championship medal table after Sprint and Technical

The Masters 40+ Women category is not included in the medal table, as no official European title was awarded in that event.

With Sprint and Technical now completed, attention turns to the final day of the Paddle Europe Championships, where the Long Distance races will decide the last European titles in Agios Nikolaos.