Paracanoe Marathon Worlds 2026: Swoboda, Adler and Chippington defend titles in Gualeguaychú
- Published
- 2026-10-22T08:49:34+00:00
- Author
- PaddleStats
Full competition results: ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships - Gualeguaychu
Three of the seven paracanoe world champions crowned on Wednesday at the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Gualeguaychú, Argentina, had won the same title a year earlier in Győr. Markus Swoboda (VL3), Anja Adler (KL2) and Jeanette Chippington (KL1) all defended their crowns on the opening day, while Spain topped the day's medal table with two golds, one silver and one bronze.
The paracanoe programme opened the elite week on 21 October, two days after the masters had finished their own championships on the same river. Seven races, 23 starters and nine nations: every one of those nine countries took home at least one medal. The men raced three full laps plus a short lap (11.8 km) in the Open, VL3 and VL2 classes; the VL1 men and all three women's kayak classes covered two laps plus a short lap (8.2 km).
The letters in the class names refer to the boat. KL is a kayak, paddled with a double-blade paddle; VL is a va'a, an outrigger canoe propelled with a single blade. The number reflects the degree of impairment: class 1 is for athletes with no leg function and very limited trunk function, class 3 for athletes with partial use of the legs and trunk. The Open class is for athletes whose impairments fall outside the KL and VL system, such as upper-limb impairment, short stature or visual impairment. The marathon world championships stage every class in both boats; only some of them are on the Paralympic programme.
Overview
| Rank | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spain | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | Austria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Germany | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Argentina | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 8 | Brazil | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | France | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Spain's day rested on two wins by wide margins. Marcos Terzado won the Open men's race in 58:02.11, 6:56.07 ahead of the Argentine Renzo Busti, and his team-mate Victor Gil took bronze in 1:06:18.16. Araceli Menduina then won the KL3 women's race in 41:16.57, the fastest time of any of the 8.2 km races, beating Mariel Graziani of Argentina by 4:29.43. Javier Reja added the fourth Spanish medal with silver behind Swoboda in VL3.
The hosts finished the day with four medals and no gold: silver for Busti and Graziani, bronze for Nicolas Crosta in VL3 and for Andrea Bracamonte in KL1. Argentina fielded six of the 23 starters, more than any other nation, and finished seventh in the medal table, which ranks countries by golds first. Brazil (one silver, one bronze) and France (one silver) completed the list of medal winners. Brazil's four starters on Wednesday, Nunes, Jane Silva, Rafaela Santos and Francisco Silva, all finished in the top four of their races.
Two races were small even by paracanoe standards. Mathieu Stpierre of Canada was the only starter in the VL2 men's race and completed the 11.8 km in 1:06:31.06. In VL1, Maxim Bogatyrev of Kazakhstan beat Brazil's Gabriel Nunes by 9:11.82.
Star Athlete: Jeanette Chippington
The biggest winning margin among the women belonged to the oldest champion of the day. Chippington, born in April 1970, won the KL1 women's race in 48:06.89. Canada's Lyne Tremblay finished 8:51.68 behind her, and Bracamonte, in third, was 26:55.22 back.
Her career is longer than the history of paracanoe at the Paralympics. Chippington first competed at the Paralympic Games as a swimmer in Seoul in 1988, went on to Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney and Athens, and won 12 Paralympic medals in the pool. In the kayak she won KL1 gold at Rio 2016 and VL2 bronze at Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024 was her eighth Games.
In marathon racing she has been just as consistent this year. At the ECA Canoe Marathon European Championships in Piteşti in June she won both of her races, one in the kayak and one in the va'a. Her sprint results are measured over 200 m, which takes well under a minute; on Wednesday she paddled for 48 minutes over two long laps and a short one, and still finished almost nine minutes clear.
Her title in Győr in 2025 came at the first marathon world championships to include paracanoe. Gualeguaychú is the second, so Chippington has now won every KL1 women's marathon world title awarded so far. She is entered again on Friday, in the VL2 women's race against Brazil's Adriane Marta.
Trends & comparisons: the 2025 champions
Seven of the classes contested on Wednesday also had a champion in Győr last year. Three of them were on the start line again, and all three won.
Markus Swoboda, VL3 men. The Austrian, a Paralympic silver medallist in KL2 at Rio 2016, won in 1:02:17.04. Reja was 1:17.96 behind and Crosta another 15.17 s further back. The VL3 race had the biggest field of the day, six starters, and the gap between second and fifth was less than two minutes: Francisco Silva of Brazil was fourth, 2:36.81 behind the winner, and the Argentine Emilio Atamanuk fifth, 3:12.77 behind. Germany's Maik Polte, bronze medallist in the va'a at Piteşti in June, was sixth in 1:13:15.53. Swoboda came to Argentina after a sprint season that included bronze at the European Championships in Montemor-o-Velho in June and sixth place in the KL2 final at the ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Poznań.
Anja Adler, KL2 women. The German, bronze medallist at Paris 2024, won the closest women's race of the day. She finished in 44:46.11, 1:09.45 ahead of France's Agnes Legroux, who was third at the European Championships in Piteşti. Adler won both of her races in Piteşti, and in August she took KL2 bronze over 200 m in Poznań.
Jeanette Chippington, KL1 women. The British kayaker retained her title by almost nine minutes.
In three other classes the 2025 champion was not on the start list. Denmark's Alexander Lonsdale won the Open men's race in Győr, Germany's Moritz Berthold the VL1 men's race and Poland's Katarzyna Kozikowska the KL3 women's race. This year those titles went to Terzado, Bogatyrev and Menduina.
Winning times cannot be compared with Győr. The 2025 races were much shorter: Kozikowska won KL3 in 20:38.18 and Swoboda VL3 in 22:09.00, while on Wednesday the same classes took 41:16.57 and 1:02:17.04.
Records & technical analysis
The winning times show how differently the two courses rewarded each class. Over 11.8 km, Terzado's 58:02.11 in the Open class was more than four minutes faster than Swoboda's VL3 time, and Stpierre's lone VL2 run took 1:06:31.06. Over 8.2 km, Menduina (KL3) was 3:29.54 faster than Adler (KL2), and Adler was 3:20.78 faster than Chippington (KL1), which matches the order of the classes by degree of impairment.
The margins were large. Only one race was decided by less than 1:10: Adler's KL2 win. Four of the six races with more than one starter had a gap of more than four minutes between first and second, and the longest was Bogatyrev's 9:11.82 in VL1. In the Open class, Germany's Johannes Schwenzer finished fourth in 1:23:40.60, 25:38.49 behind the winner, and in KL3 the Argentine Katya Unrein was fifth, 17:02.51 behind Menduina.
Brazil's results deserve a closer look. Jane Silva took KL3 bronze in 49:34.20 and Rafaela Santos finished fourth in 51:38.08, 2:03.88 behind her, so Brazil placed two athletes in the top four of the same race. Spain did the same in the Open class, with Terzado first and Gil third.
Bogatyrev races in both kinds of boat. In 2025 he won the va'a 200 m at the Asian Paracanoe Championships in Rayong, and in Poznań in August he reached the VL1 final, finishing seventh. On Friday he is entered in the KL1 men's race as well.
What's next
The paracanoe programme resumes on Friday, 23 October, with the remaining seven classes: Open, VL1, VL2 and VL3 for women and KL1, KL2 and KL3 for men. Several of Wednesday's medallists are entered again. Adler races in VL3 against Brazil's Thais Freitas, Chippington in VL2, Swoboda and Atamanuk in KL2, Bogatyrev in KL1 against Diego Jorge, and Tremblay and Bracamonte in VL1. The KL2 and KL3 men's races are the biggest of the paracanoe week, with nine starters each. Crosta, Wednesday's VL3 bronze medallist, switches from the va'a to the kayak for KL3. Atamanuk in KL2, Crosta in KL3 and Bracamonte in VL1 give Argentina another chance at a first home gold. The biggest women's field is VL1, with four starters.
Before that, Thursday is given over to the junior and senior races. The junior C1 women's and men's races frame the day, with the K1 Short Race heats and finals for juniors and seniors and the senior C1 Short Race finals in between. Friday also brings the junior K1 women, the junior C2 men and the four under-23 races. Saturday brings the senior K1 races, the senior C1 men, the junior K1 men and the junior K2 women, and Sunday closes the championships with the senior C1 women, the senior C2 men and three K2 races.
The masters results from the same river are in our recap of the Masters World Championships, and the full masters results are on the ICF Masters Canoe Marathon World Championships event page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the paracanoe races at the 2026 Canoe Marathon World Championships on 21 October?
Marcos Terzado (ESP) won the Open men's race, Markus Swoboda (AUT) VL3 men, Mathieu Stpierre (CAN) VL2 men, Maxim Bogatyrev (KAZ) VL1 men, Araceli Menduina (ESP) KL3 women, Anja Adler (GER) KL2 women and Jeanette Chippington (GBR) KL1 women.
Which country won the most medals on the paracanoe opening day?
Spain and Argentina both won four medals. Spain topped the table with two golds, one silver and one bronze; Argentina won two silvers and two bronzes.
What was the fastest winning time on 21 October?
Over the 8.2 km course, Araceli Menduina's 41:16.57 in KL3 was the fastest. Over 11.8 km, Marcos Terzado won the Open class in 58:02.11.
How long were the paracanoe marathon courses in Gualeguaychú?
The Open, VL3 and VL2 men raced three laps plus a short lap (11.8 km). The VL1 men and the KL1, KL2 and KL3 women raced two laps plus a short lap (8.2 km).
Does Jeanette Chippington's margin say the KL1 class is weak?
The margin alone cannot answer that. She retained her 2025 title by 8:51.68 over Lyne Tremblay and won both of her races at the European Championships in June. The KL1 field in Gualeguaychú had only three starters, though, so the margin alone says little about the depth of the class.
Did Argentina disappoint at their home championships?
Not on the numbers. Argentina won four medals, as many as Spain, and placed an athlete on the podium in four of the seven races. What they did not get was a gold: Busti and Graziani both finished second, more than four minutes behind the winner.
Will Wednesday's champions race again on Friday?
Four of them will: Adler in VL3, Chippington in VL2, Swoboda in KL2 and Bogatyrev in KL1, each in a different boat from Wednesday. Adler and Chippington have one opponent each. Swoboda faces one of the two largest fields of the paracanoe week, with nine starters in KL2.
Jeanette Chippington, 38 years after her first Paralympic Games, won by the biggest margin of any woman. The next chance for double champions comes on Friday, and the title races of the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships continue until Sunday.