Poland at the 2026 European Canoe Sprint Championships: Squad and Medal Hopes

Published

2026-06-10T14:27:44+00:00

Author

PaddleStats

Full competition results: ECA Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe European Championships - Montemor-o-Velho

From 11 to 14 June 2026, the Portuguese town of Montemor-o-Velho hosts the senior European Canoe Sprint Championships — and Poland arrives with a roster carrying genuine medal credentials. Leading the line is Anna Puławska, who barely a month ago in Szeged powered onto the podium in one of the fastest K1 500 m races of the season, alongside a rebuilt canoe programme still searching for its identity in this cycle after Paris.

These four days on the Portuguese water are, for the white-and-reds, not only a fight for medals but the first serious form check ahead of the season's August summit — the home World Championships in Poznań. Below, event by event, are the races worth following from a Polish perspective.

Poland's medal hopes

From the entire start list, a handful of boats and singles stand out with a record that genuinely feeds the conversation about a Montemor podium. Below are the Polish athletes with the strongest international CV in their events.

The cornerstone of this squad remains Anna Puławska — the most decorated athlete on the Polish team in Montemor. In 2025 in Milan she claimed two world titles, in the K1 500 m and in the K2 500 m alongside Martyna Klatt, and her trophy cabinet also holds two Olympic medals from Tokyo 2020 (silver in the K2 500 m and bronze in the K4 500 m). At this year's season opener, the World Cup in Szeged, Puławska took K1 500 m bronze in 1:47.44 — the fastest among Europeans, beaten only by paddlers from Australia and New Zealand. That is a body of work that casts her as one of the prime contenders for gold in this event on her own European continent.

The second strong blow comes from the women's two- and four-seater kayaks. In the K2 500 m, Puławska and Klatt have fresh Szeged silver in their legs, and the K4 500 m crew adds Dominika Putto and Adrianna Kąkol — both K4 500 m world champions (Putto in 2022 in Dartmouth, Kąkol in 2022 and 2025). The four is completed by Sandra Ostrowska and Katarzyna Kościołek. This is an event in which Poland has belonged to Europe's tight elite for years — and nothing suggests Montemor will be any different.

A rebuilt canoe programme — a new chapter after Paris

The most intriguing thread in this squad plays out in the canoes. The Polish canoe team enters a new Olympic cycle — from Montemor through Poznań all the way to Los Angeles 2028 — with a coaching staff rebuilt for the 2025 season. Work with the male canoeists has been led since 1 January 2025 by Sergij Bezuglij, supported by Marcin Grzybowski and Michał Śliwiński, while preparation of the women canoeists is the responsibility of Mariusz Szałkowski. It is in this group that the greatest potential for a medal surprise is hidden.

The strongest figure is Oleksii Koliadych, a C1 200 m specialist — two-time world champion in the event (2022 in Dartmouth and 2024 in Samarkand), World bronze medallist from 2023 in Duisburg and 2024 European C1 200 m champion in Szeged. His personal best over the distance is 0:38.53, set in 2024. In the men's C1 200 m field in Montemor, Koliadych lines up with the highest tally of world-championship golds among the Europeans — which makes him a genuine title candidate.

The second pillar of the men's canoes is Wiktor Głazunów — a canoeist who specialises in the C1 over 500, 1000 and 5000 m. In 2024 in Samarkand he became world champion in the C1 5000 m, and in 2025 in Milan he added a World bronze in the same event. A two-time Olympian (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024), in Montemor he races over the long and middle single distances. The list of canoeists is rounded out by Gracjan Michalak in the C1 500 m and the brothers Juliusz Kitewski and Aleksander Kitewski — the latter with a World bronze to his name.

In the women's canoes, attention centres on Dorota Borowska. She is the reigning European C1 200 m champion — the title won in 2025 — and a podium candidate in the event in Montemor. Her personal best in the C1 200 m is 0:46.36, set in 2025. Borowska will also race in the C2 in Portugal, where her partner is Milena Mackiewicz, while in the women's C1 500 m field Maja Ruzanowska will compete. The main rival of the Polish women canoeists remains Liudmyla Luzan of Ukraine — a three-time Olympic medallist and winner of four golds at the most recent World Championships in Milan, whose C1 200 m mark from this year's Szeged (0:43.23) sets the bar for the entire event.

The field where Poland fights for finals

Beyond the medal certainties, the Polish squad fields a sizeable group of kayakers who in Montemor will battle for A finals and scoring places. In the men's K4 500 m, the boat will carry Jakub Stepun, Jarosław Kajdanek, Valerii Vichev and Sławomir Witczak. The last of these has a European K4 500 m bronze from 2025 to his name, and in 2024 he shared victory in the K1 500 m at the World Cup in Poznań with Fernando Pimenta himself — a name that will be the host nation's principal point of reference in Montemor.

In the men's K2 500 m, Przemysław Korsak and Piotr Morawski will line up; in the men's K1 500 m, Alex Borucki; and among the women's events, the K1 200 m will feature Julia Olszewska. The men's K1 500 m field here is merciless: it includes Olympic champion Josef Dostál of the Czech Republic, European K1 500 m champion Adam Varga of Hungary, double Olympic champion Jacob Schopf of Germany and the Portuguese star Fernando Pimenta. It is an environment in which simply reaching the A final is a success.

Just as demanding is the men's K2 500 m, where the German tandem of Max Lemke and Schopf enters the fray — a pair of multiple Olympic and world champions whose combined gold haul dwarfs anything else in the field. In that confrontation, Korsak and Morawski are racing for experience and a place in the back half of the field, not for a medal — one of those starts in which progress is measured in seconds of deficit to the best, not by a podium spot. Borucki, meanwhile, in the K1 500 m faces the entire European kayak aristocracy, from Dostál to Varga, and every advance to a semi-final is a valuable point in building form before Poznań.

The men's four, too — despite Witczak's bronze from last year's European Championships — pushes off into the water as an outsider against German dominance in the K4 500 m, but it is precisely starts like these that show where the Polish men's kayak really stands in June 2026 and how far it sits from the world's elite ahead of the home season summit.

Paracanoe — the white-and-reds on the start line

The European Championships in Montemor include a full paracanoe programme, and Poland fields several representatives in it. In the women's VL3 200 m the boat will carry Monika Kukla, racing alongside, among others, Britain's Charlotte Henshaw, a multiple gold medallist on the world circuit. In that same field, as well as in the women's KL2, will be Anna Bilovol. Among the men, the VL3 200 m features Robert Wydera, the KL3 200 m Mateusz Surwiło, and the women's KL3 Katarzyna Sobczak. These are events in which the European confrontation is an important stage for the Polish paracanoeists in building their form for the season.

The programme — when and where to look for the Poles

The four-day programme in Montemor-o-Velho covers the full set of Olympic and non-Olympic canoe-sprint and paracanoe events, and for the first time in the event's history a Masters competition has been added. From a Polish point of view, the schedule arranges itself around a handful of key events.

Every event is run in the full format of heats, semi-finals and A/B finals, and the finals of the Olympic distances — K1, K2 and K4 over 500 m and the C1 over the single distances — traditionally close out each successive day of racing. For Polish fans, the special moments will be Puławska's starts in the K1 and K2 500 m, the women's four in the K4 500 m and Koliadych and Borowska in the canoe singles.

What's Next

Montemor is only the first major test for the white-and-reds this season. The real summit comes at the end of August, when Poznań's Malta course hosts the 2026 World Championships (26–30 August) — the most important home event of the season and a chance to confirm, in front of their own crowd, the form forged in Portugal. Puławska's titles from Milan, Głazunów's C1 5000 m bronze and Koliadych's C1 200 m gold from a year ago are achievements that will have to be defended on Malta.

The European Championships in Montemor are also the opening of a new Olympic cycle crowned by the Los Angeles 2028 Games — the first full season of the rebuilt canoe programme under Bezuglij and Szałkowski. Running parallel to the senior competition, it is worth following the European Junior and U23 Championships, where the next generation of Polish canoe sprint is taking shape — it is from this pool that future Olympic-squad candidates will emerge in a few years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who from Poland has the best medal chances in Montemor?

On the hard numbers, the strongest CV belongs to Anna Puławska. In 2025 she won two world titles (K1 500 m and K2 500 m), and at the season opener in Szeged she was third in the K1 500 m in 1:47.44 — the fastest time among Europeans. Genuine podium candidates are also Dorota Borowska (2025 European C1 200 m champion) and Oleksii Koliadych, two-time C1 200 m world champion.

Can Anna Puławska win the K1 500 m on her own continent?

The numbers say she is one of two or three main contenders. Her Szeged time (1:47.44) was the best European mark in this event this season, and as a double world champion from Milan 2025 she outranks most of the European field. The main threat is Germany's Pauline Jagsch (fourth in Szeged, 1:47.58) — a gap of 0.14 s shows just how tight this race will be.

Does Liudmyla Luzan's era in the women's canoes have a European rival?

For now there is no one capable of outclassing the Ukrainian over the longer distance. Luzan has four golds from the most recent World Championships and a C1 200 m mark from Szeged 2026 (0:43.23). But over 200 m a door opens for Dorota Borowska — the reigning European champion in the event, whose personal best is 0:46.36. It is over the short distance that the Pole has the most to gain.

How many medals can Poland realistically win in Montemor?

The number depends on the day, but the foundation is solid: Puławska (K1 and K2 500 m), the women's four in the K4 500 m with two world champions on board (Putto, Kąkol), Borowska in the C1 200 m and Koliadych in the C1 200 m make four to five genuine podium chances built on concrete results, not on wishful thinking.

Who is Wiktor Głazunów and why is he described as a canoeist?

Głazunów is a Polish canoeist — he paddles a canoe (C1), not a kayak. In 2024 in Samarkand he became world champion in the C1 5000 m, and in 2025 in Milan he won bronze in the event. In Montemor he races the canoe single over 1000 and 5000 m.

Is Koliadych Poland's most serious gold candidate?

In his event — yes. In the men's C1 200 m he lines up with two world-championship golds, the highest tally of international golds among the Europeans in the field. A two-time world champion (2022, 2024) and 2024 European champion, he is the favourite for the title over his signature distance.

Who led the rebuild of the Polish canoes?

Since 1 January 2025 the work with the male canoeists has been led by Sergij Bezuglij, supported by Marcin Grzybowski and Michał Śliwiński, while the women canoeists are prepared by Mariusz Szałkowski. Montemor is this group's first European test in the new Olympic cycle.

What comes after the European Championships?

The season's most important fixture is the 2026 World Championships on Poznań's Malta course (26–30 August) — a home event where the Poles will defend last year's achievements. Montemor is also the opening of a new Olympic cycle leading to Los Angeles 2028.

All the eyes of white-and-red fans in Montemor will be on Anna Puławska, who after two world titles from Milan slides onto the Portuguese water as one of the favourites for the K1 500 m. Her start, like the whole European competition, is a taste of what awaits the Polish squad two months later at the European Junior and U23 Championships and — above all — at the home World Championships in Poznań.

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