European Championships 2026 Report

Last week saw Paddle Europe’s Canoe Marathon European Championships take place in the searing heat of Pitesti, Romania. In the Elite Championships we had a team of 7 athletes competing across U18 & U23 categories, with 4 of the 7 athletes racing marathon for Ireland for the 1st time.

The racing kicked off on Weds with the short course events which saw Caoilin Caffrey and Emily Donnellan race in the U18 Women, Sean Smyth and Jake Witek in the U18 Men and Ben Higgins in the Senior Men. With all categories having heats and finals the racing was ferocious with Caffrey, Donnellan & Smyth all qualifying through the heats to their finals. After some very strong catchups in the earlier part of the race Caffrey wound in the 2 Hungarian girls who were in 3rd and 4th place after the last portage and in the home stretch, out sprinted both, 1 of which was the defending European Champion from 2025, to win a Bronze medal! Donnellan finished in 18th place and in the U18 Men’s race , Sean Smyth finished in a bittersweet 4th place and only 11 seconds off a medal. Everyone took valuable experience that would stand to them in their long course events.

In the long course events Caffrey went 1 better, securing a Silver medal in an exciting and tactical race that saw a lead group of 5 break away. With each lap moves would be made and catch ups were needed but Caffrey got better with each lap and portage & by the time the final potage came around she stuck with the leaders from Great Britain and 1 of the Hungarian athletes fought hard to join them. After more than 90 minutes of battle in 28 degree weather it came down to a 3 way sprint finish with Caffrey taking 2nd place. Emily Donnellan also had a brilliant race, leading the chase pack in 7th place for the majority of the race and finally finishing up in 9th place.

In the U18 Men Long race Sean Smyth & Sean Noud started out strong with both making their presence felt in the lead group through the 1st 2 laps. The pace & the extreme heat took it’s toll with Noud dropping to the chase pack on the 2nd lap and Smyth falling back on the 1st portage where briefly it looked like the conditions may get the better of him. However he used all his experience, grit & determination to fight on and finished with a top 10 position. Noud battled through the heat but struggled with a shoulder injury in the later part of the race, finishing in a credible 17th place.

The U23 Men’s race took place in blistering temperatures of around 33 degrees! Ben Higgin & Paul Donnellan raced hard over 26k in a race that saw 30% of the field DNF with a number of athletes needing medical attention. Of the 27 starters, Paul finished a strong 13th & Ben in 15th.

Donnellan also started the Senior Mens race on the Saturday evening but decided to pull the plug mid race after gaining some valuable experience racing in the top tier.

Sunday morning saw a hive of activity as we had a crew change in the U18 Men’s K2 due to Noud’s injury. Jake Witek stepped in on very short notice to paddle with Sean Smyth. The pair sat in the boat for the 1st time 20mins before the start of their 23k race. This lack of proper preparation was not evident in the race as the pair mixed it with the top crews in Europe, out portaging top Hungarian boat and finishing a brilliant 8th place, cracking the top half of the field.

Well done and congratulations to all the athletes, and the future of Irish Marathon racing looks bright. Full race results can be found HERE. A big thank you to team manager Colm Higgins who along with Ben, drove the teams boats 3000km across Europe. Without this type of help the results would not be achievable.

The Elite event was preceded with the Masters racing and Ireland being represented by Breda Keating & Peter Egan who raced in K1 & in K2 with mixed nationality crews. Breda won Silver in both K1 & K2 with Pete finishing in 5th place in K1 & Bronze medal in K2. Full results of the Masters racing can be found here