42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships 2026: Walczykiewicz returns, Kępka detonates, host without a medal
- Published
- 2026-05-30T13:34:09+00:00
Full competition results: 42nd Polish Long Distance Championships
The 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships in Wolsztyn on 15 May 2026 handed out 103 medals across 18 events at distances of 3000–10 000 m, and produced three stories that demand attention. Marta Walczykiewicz, Olympic silver medallist at Rio 2016 in K-1 200 m, took bronze in K1 W 10 000 m at age 38 — a distance fifty times longer than her Olympic event. Jakub Kępka, only sixth in C1 M 5000 m at last year's 41st edition, this time won both C2 M 8000 m and C1 M 10 000 m. And the host club, UMKS Zryw Wolsztyn, failed to win a single medal on its own water.
Overview
| Club | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KS AZS-AWF Poznań | 9 | 6 | 2 | 17 |
| KS GPower Gorzów | 8 | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| UMKS Zryw Wolsztyn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
103 medals, 18 events, distances from 3000 m (women's canoe) through 5000 m, 8000 m, up to 10 000 m in K1/K2 and C1/C2 classes — that is the scope of the single-day meeting in Wolsztyn known as the Polish Long-Distance Championships. All 103 medals went to Polish athletes; the international element appeared only through Ukrainian and Belarusian paddlers starting under Polish club colours (Artem Vasylchenko, Kyrylo Kurman, Anna Vdovychenko, Sofia Mykhailova among others).
The 42nd edition means an uninterrupted tradition stretching back to the mid-1980s. Unlike Olympic sprint distances (200, 500, 1000 m), long-distance racing carries no Olympic status — the closest related event, the kayak marathon (open water with a portage section), is a separate International Canoe Federation competition and has never reached the Olympic programme. Even so, the national long-distance championships are one of the most serious endurance tests in Polish canoeing and each year attract both trained juniors looking to widen their distance range and seniors who, mid-season, need a benchmark outside the sprint.
This year's championships therefore became both a test of clubs' roster depth and an opportunity for experienced athletes — those for whom the 200-metre specialty is gradually moving behind them — to return.
Walczykiewicz returns — over a distance fifty times longer
Marta Walczykiewicz (born 1987, Kalisz) holds an Olympic silver medal from Rio de Janeiro 2016 in K-1 200 m (final time 40.279 seconds), along with more than a dozen World Championship medals in sprint, including the 2014 Moscow gold in the K-1 4×200 m relay. Her Olympic event is the shortest distance in kayak sprint racing — a roughly forty-second maximum-output effort.
At the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships she lined up in K1 W 10 000 m. That is a distance fifty times longer than her Olympic specialty. Result: 47:09.00, third place behind Zuzanna Błażejczak (46:17.00, gold, born 2004) and Anna Mielnik (46:21.00, silver). Margin to gold — 52 seconds across nearly forty-five minutes of work.
For a 38-year-old athlete, a bronze on a distance foreign to her physiology is sportingly meaningful in a way the medal table alone does not show. K-1 200 m sprint requires maximum anaerobic power; long distance requires sustained threshold power near VO2 max for 45–50 minutes. These are two different physiological disciplines under a single name canoe sprint. Walczykiewicz, like part of the experienced senior squad, uses long distance as a training-base tool after years of 200 m focus — and sees in it a context where she can still compete at the level of a national podium.
At club level Walczykiewicz is associated with KTW Kalisz — the Kalisz Rowing Society, a name carried over from the 19th century even though for decades the club has focused exclusively on canoe sprint. Her presence on the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships medal list is a signal that Polish canoe sprint still has a category of athletes combining champion-level sprint with regular starts at longer distances.
Three names that took the distance
Statistically the most was done that day by a junior from Poznań. Jakub Kępka (born 2008, KS AZS-AWF Poznań) won C2 M 8000 m (with Filip Szymoniak, time 37:36.00) and C1 M 10 000 m (48:05.00). This is especially telling because just a year ago, at the 41st Polish Long-Distance Championships held in Chełmno, Kępka finished only sixth in C1 M 5000 m (31:49.00). From sixth to first, doubled distance, second gold medal as a bonus — a form jump of this scale in one season is material no coach can manufacture on demand.
Igor Wyszkowski (born 2005, KS AZS-AWF Poznań) was defending two golds from the previous edition. At the 41st Polish Long-Distance Championships 2025 he won K1 M 10 000 m (39:53.00) and K2 M 10 000 m (37:18.00). At the 42nd 2026: silver K1 M 10 000 m (41:40.00 — losing to Przemysław Rojek by only 6 seconds) and gold K2 M 10 000 m with his partner (39:09.00). These numbers need careful reading though: his K2 at 39:09 is 1 minute and 51 seconds slower than his own a year ago (37:18). K1 — 1 minute and 47 seconds slower (41:40 vs 39:53). Either water conditions were significantly tougher, or summer peak form is planned only for the July Polish Senior Championships. Wyszkowski himself remains one of the best long-distance paddlers in the country in his category.
Danylo Kravtsov (born 2009, MRKS Gdańsk) took two silvers — in C2 M 10 000 m (with Alex Skrzypiec, time 46:00.00) and C1 M 10 000 m (49:02.00). He represents the third point on the Polish junior canoeing map: not the great Poznań school, not the Wolsztyn hub, but Gdańsk — which matters for even distribution across the season.
A full review must not miss: Mateusz Borgiel (gold C1 M 10 000 m senior, 45:29.00), Jolanta Rogała (gold K1 W 5000 m, 25:20.00), Tomasz Angielczyk (gold K1 M 5000 m, 22:05.00), Ewelina Antos (gold C1 W 8000 m, 42:07.00), Arkadi Chirilenco (gold C1 M 8000 m, 40:12.00) — together with all 18 events they give the full picture of the depth of the Polish long-distance pool.
A host club without a medal on its own water
The data is unambiguous: UMKS Zryw Wolsztyn, the host of the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships, won no medals across the entire competition. Zero gold, zero silver, zero bronze — out of 103 medals distributed.
That is a striking contrast with the Piszcz Memorial 2026 less than a month earlier (18 April 2026, Lake Malta), where Zryw took 14 medals (including 7 golds) and posted the highest medal efficiency among Polish clubs. The difference comes from the programme structure: the Piszcz Memorial is a Children and Youth ranking in classic sprint (200–1000 m), in which Wolsztyn's young paddlers dominate their age categories. The Polish Long-Distance Championships, by contrast, is largely a senior tournament at 8000–10 000 m. Zryw clearly does not yet field regular senior long-distance starters and holds its main strength in younger sprint categories.
For the host, however, zero medals on its own water is hard information about the segments the club needs to strengthen if it wants to be visible beyond youth racing.
Small Gorzów against the Poznań giant
KS GPower Gorzów at the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships took 15 medals (8 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze). The club's active roster numbers 33 athletes. Medal efficiency: 0.45 medals per athlete — the highest among clubs on the medal-table podium.
KS AZS-AWF Poznań, winners of the medal table with 17 medals (9 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze), has 176 athletes on the active roster. Medal efficiency: 0.097 medals per athlete — that is 4.6 times lower than GPower Gorzów.
Among GPower medallists the standouts are Maciej Bargiel and Bartosz Kulpa (gold K2 M 10 000 m, 40:21.00), Jakub Gaber and Mikołaj Kleist, Katarzyna Dyjak with Aleksandra Sidor (gold K2 W 10 000 m, 45:35.00), Maja Bohdziun with Aleksandra Głogowska (gold K2 W 5000 m, 22:01.00). The Gorzów Wielkopolski club is making a strong case: fewer athletes, but a larger proportion actually returning with a medal. This has now happened twice in 2026 — at the Piszcz Memorial a similar pattern was set by Zryw Wolsztyn (14 medals from 34 athletes, 0.41 medals per person). Polish small clubs are starting to compete on effectiveness with the big training schools.
What the Polish Long-Distance Championships are
The Polish Long-Distance Championships are the country's oldest organized form of competition over the long distance. The 42nd edition in 2026 means the first took place around 1985 — for almost four decades the championships have been a yearly fixture, although each edition is held in a different city. The 41st edition in 2025 ran in Chełmno, the 42nd in 2026 — in Wolsztyn, future editions are planned in other Polish canoeing centres, most often following a rotation by regional kayak associations.
The character of the event differs from Olympic sprints (200, 500, 1000 m) on every meaningful axis. First, physiology: 10 000 m K1 M requires maintaining threshold power around 90% of maximum heart rate for 40–45 minutes, a primarily aerobic effort. The 200 m sprint, by contrast, is a maximum anaerobic effort lasting about 35–40 seconds. Second, tactics: pacing changes, energy conservation across the first kilometres, holding reserves for the finish, and the ability to read competitors' moves on turns play a much bigger role in long distance. Third, equipment: stroke power distribution and the boat's working angle shift slightly, requiring adjustments to paddling technique.
There is no Olympic equivalent of long-distance canoeing. The International Canoe Federation has organized Kayak Marathon World Championships since the 1980s (typically 20–30 km on open water with a portage — a running segment carrying the boat), but that event has never reached the Games. For most leading Polish paddlers long distance remains a form of seasonal check — a chance to measure baseline endurance under race conditions, not just training.
What's next in 2026
After the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships the most important upcoming points of the national calendar are the Polish Junior Championships (XXXII OOM, 30 July 2026) (the event at which title defences are expected from Michał Lipiński in C1 M 1000 m and the whole roster of athletes from Wolsztyn and Poznań) and the 89th Polish Senior Championships in Canoe Sprint (19 June 2026). That is where Igor Wyszkowski will confirm whether the slower times at the Polish Long-Distance Championships were a matter of conditions or planned form distribution. That is also where we'll see whether veteran returns of the Marta Walczykiewicz variety continue or stay as a friendly visit to long distance. Bashak, Szczepaniak and Lipiński — the trio we identified in the Piszcz Memorial analysis — will defend their dominance in their age categories in the summer half of the season.
The national results board for 2026 is starting to take shape. Two major tournaments behind us, several key ones still ahead. All visible on PaddleStats.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the most medals at the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships 2026?
Club-wise KS AZS-AWF Poznań dominated with 17 medals (9 gold, 6 silver, 2 bronze). Individually, two golds each went to Jakub Kępka (C2 M 8000 m + C1 M 10 000 m) and to Maciej Bargiel and Bartosz Kulpa from GPower Gorzów (K2 M 10 000 m and a second club title).
Did the host, UMKS Zryw Wolsztyn, win any medals on its own water?
No. Out of 103 medals distributed, Zryw Wolsztyn took none — no gold, no silver, no bronze. That is a striking contrast with the Piszcz Memorial 2026, where Zryw collected 14 medals. The difference comes from the event profile: the Memorial is a Children and Youth ranking (sprint), while the Polish Long-Distance Championships is primarily a senior tournament over 8000–10 000 m. The club holds its main strength in the younger categories.
Who is Marta Walczykiewicz?
A Polish canoe sprint athlete (born 1 August 1987 in Kalisz), Olympic silver medallist at Rio de Janeiro 2016 in K-1 200 m (final time 40.279 s). Multiple-time World Championship medallist, including the 2014 Moscow gold in K-1 4×200 m relay. Represents KTW Kalisz. At the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships she won bronze in K1 W 10 000 m (47:09.00) — at age 38, over a distance fifty times longer than her Olympic specialty.
Why is Walczykiewicz's club called "Rowing Society" if this is canoe sprint?
Kaliskie Towarzystwo Wioślarskie (Kalisz Rowing Society) was founded in the 19th century, when the Polish word wioślarstwo was used broadly to cover all sports propelled by a paddle or oar. Over time terminology split: wioślarstwo came to mean only the Olympic sport of rowing on rowing boats (with fixed oarlocks), while kayaking and canoeing became separate disciplines. The club kept its historical name even though for decades it has focused exclusively on canoe sprint.
What is long-distance canoe sprint and does it have Olympic status?
It is racing over 3000–10 000 m (and longer) in K1/K2/C1/C2 classes. It requires sustaining threshold power for 30–50 minutes — physiologically closer to marathon running than to sprint. Olympic events in canoe sprint are only 200, 500 and 1000 m. Long distance has never been included in the Olympic programme; the closest International Canoe Federation event, kayak marathon (20–30 km on open water with a portage), also remains outside the Games.
What was the fastest K1 M 10 000 m time at the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships?
Przemysław Rojek — 41:34.00. He beat Igor Wyszkowski (41:40.00, silver) by only 6 seconds. A year earlier, in the same event at the 41st Polish Long-Distance Championships in Chełmno, Wyszkowski won with a time of 39:53.00 — 1 minute and 47 seconds faster.
Is KS GPower Gorzów today the most efficient club in Polish long-distance canoe sprint?
At the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships 2026 — yes. 15 medals (8 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze) from 33 athletes on the active roster gives 0.45 medals per athlete, against 0.097 medals per athlete for the 176-athlete AZS-AWF Poznań. That is 4.6 times higher efficiency.
Is Jakub Kępka going from sixth place to two golds an authentic form jump?
In the year between the 41st and 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships Kępka moved from fifth–sixth place in one event (C1 M 5000 m, 31:49.00) to two victories at longer distances (C2 M 8000 m and C1 M 10 000 m). With a change of age category from younger junior and the natural muscle-mass increase of an eighteen-year-old, jumps like this are not rare. But to extend the repertoire to two new distances and win both immediately — yes, that is rare. AZS-AWF Poznań is coaching him in a way worth tracking in the summer half of the season.
After 15 May the 2026 national season has two clear reference points: the Piszcz Memorial from a month earlier and the 42nd Polish Long-Distance Championships in Wolsztyn from this past weekend. Marta Walczykiewicz, Jakub Kępka and Igor Wyszkowski are writing themselves onto the list of names worth watching in the summer half of the season — most importantly at the Polish Senior Championships and the Polish Junior Championships.