Portugal names 16 for the 2026 World Championships in Poznań: Pimenta doubles up, silver K4 stays intact

Published

2026-08-16T10:30:03+00:00

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PaddleStats

Full competition results: ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships - Poznan

Portugal has named a 16-strong team for the 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint and Paracanoe World Championships in Poznań (26–30 August), and the Portuguese Canoe Federation's Saturday announcement reads like a statement of priorities: Fernando Pimenta doubles up in the K1 1000 m and K1 5000 m, the men's K4 500 m that took silver in Montreal keeps its crew intact, and Teresa Portela goes back to the K1 500 m. Thirteen sprint canoeists and three paracanoeists travel to Lake Malta, the venue that hosts the Worlds for the fourth time after 1990, 2001 and 2010.

Overview

The selection covers thirteen events. Below is the full Portugal squad for the canoe sprint World Championships in Poznań 2026, exactly as announced by the federation.

Two things stand out. First, the men's kayak group is compact and deliberately doubled: João Ribeiro and Messias Baptista race the K2 500 m and then slot into the K4 500 m alongside Gustavo Gonçalves and Pedro Casinha. Second, the K1 200 m men — an event in which Baptista won the world title at the 2024 World Championships in Samarkand in 34.88 and in which Casinha won the Szeged World Cup in May in 34.48 — is not on the Portuguese entry list at all. The men's 200 m has been off the Olympic programme since Tokyo, and Portugal is putting both sprinters' legs into the boats that matter for Los Angeles 2028.

On the women's side the federation has gone young. Clara Duarte, born in 2006, is the only woman entered in two events. Ana Brito (2004), Ana Rodrigues (2003) and Maria Rego Gomes (2002) all come from the crew that raced the 2025 Junior and U23 World Championships at home in Montemor-o-Velho. Portela, born in 1987, is the veteran anchor.

Star athlete: Fernando Pimenta, 37 and still setting the pace

Pimenta turned 37 on 13 August, three days before the selection was published, and the season he is bringing to Poznań would flatter a paddler ten years younger. He opened at the Szeged World Cup with a 3:22.25 in the K1 1000 m final and a 21:55.97 in the K1 5000 m — two wins in one weekend. At the Brandenburg World Cup he was fourth over 1000 m in 3:36.68 and second over 5000 m in 22:16.71. Then came the European Championships in Montemor-o-Velho, on his home course: bronze in the K1 1000 m in 3:25.32, gold in the K1 5000 m in 21:09.12, and a ninth place in the K1 500 m final that told everyone which distances he had actually trained for. The Montreal World Cup in July closed the loop — first in the K1 1000 m in 3:35.60 and first in the K1 5000 m in 21:57.79.

That is four World Cup and European finals over 1000 m this year with results of 1st, 4th, 3rd and 1st, and four 5000 m races with results of 1st, 2nd, 1st and 1st. The consistency is the story. In the K1 5000 m he has not finished outside the top two at any 2026 event.

The longer history explains why nobody in Poznań will treat him as a sentimental entry. Pimenta is a five-time world champion — K1 5000 m at the 2017 Worlds in Račice in 20:46.91, the K1 1000 m and K1 5000 m double in 2018 at Montemor-o-Velho, K1 1000 m in 2021 in Copenhagen and K1 1000 m again in 2023 in Duisburg, where he clocked 3:27.71 in the final. He owns two Olympic medals, silver in the K2 1000 m at London 2012 and bronze in the K1 1000 m at Tokyo, where his 3:22.48 remains a reference time. At the 2019 Worlds in Szeged he took bronze in both the K1 1000 m (3:37.63) and the K1 5000 m (20:19.94). At Paris 2024 he was sixth in the K1 1000 m final in 3:29.59, and a fortnight later in Samarkand he took silver in the K1 500 m (1:38.05) and silver in the K1 5000 m (22:55.10).

The one wobble came at the May 2025 World Cup, where he was ninth in the K1 1000 m final in 3:36.59 — and still second in the 5000 m in 21:38.91. Twelve months later he answered with the Szeged double.

Poznań is not new ground for him either. He raced the 2022 World Cup on Lake Malta, finishing that season's programme on the same water he will race in August. His 3:22.25 from Szeged is the fastest K1 1000 m time of his 2026 season, and it came in a World Cup final, not a time trial.

The men's K4: three fourth places, then a silver

The men's K4 500 m is Portugal's most interesting Olympic-cycle project. Ribeiro (born 1989), Baptista (1999), Gonçalves (2003) and Casinha (2003) have raced together at every major regatta this season, and the trajectory is measurable. Fourth in Szeged in 1:19.02. Fourth in Brandenburg in 1:21.47. Fourth again at the Europeans in 1:18.65, after winning their semifinal in 1:18.30, the crew's fastest time of the year. And then, in Montreal in July, silver in 1:22.23 — the first World Cup medal for this four.

Three fourth places in a row hurt, but they also mean the boat has been within a length of the podium since May. A quartet that mixes two Olympians with two 2025 U23 world champions has room to move on the final day in Poznań.

The two younger men bring their own credentials. Gonçalves and Casinha won the U23 K2 500 m title at the 2025 Junior and U23 Worlds in 1:33.12, and Casinha added U23 bronze in the K1 200 m in 36.37. His senior breakthrough came in Szeged this May, where he won the K1 200 m World Cup final in 34.48. Baptista, the 2024 world champion over 200 m, was second at the Europeans in 34.18 and third in Brandenburg in 35.20 — and yet neither man will race the 200 m in Poznań. Portugal is spending their speed on the K4.

The K2 500 m for Ribeiro and Baptista is the flip side. This pair were world champions in Duisburg in 2023 (1:29.04) and sixth in the Paris Olympic final in 1:27.82. In 2026 they have gone bronze in Szeged (1:27.54), fifth in Brandenburg (1:36.86) and fourth at the Europeans (1:32.57). Ribeiro is the longest-serving man in the squad: he was in the Portuguese K4 1000 m with Pimenta that finished sixth at Rio 2016, in the K4 500 m eighth in the Tokyo final, and in the K2 500 m in Paris.

Women's kayak, canoe and paracanoe: Portela back in the single, a young four behind her

Portela's decision to race the K1 500 m in Poznań rather than the K2 is the quiet headline of the women's list. In 2026 she has been paddling the K2 500 m with Clara Duarte, and the results have stopped at the B final each time — fifth in the Szeged B final (1:44.01), seventh in Brandenburg (1:51.47), third at the Europeans (1:51.19) and third again in Montreal (1:46.95). The single is her Olympic event: seventh in the Tokyo final in 1:55.81, and a quarter-final exit in Paris. Two of her world championship medals came in the mixed K2 500 m — silver with Pimenta in 2022 (1:39.79) and gold with Baptista in Samarkand in 2024 (1:37.59) — but Portugal has not entered a mixed crew in Poznań, so she goes solo.

The K2 500 m women passes to Ana Brito and Clara Duarte, and the K4 500 m becomes a development boat: Francisca Lopes, Duarte, Ana Rodrigues and Maria Rego Gomes. The four that Portugal has raced this season — with Portela in it, plus various combinations of Brito, Rodrigues, Duarte and Rego Gomes — has stopped at the semifinal stage every time: seventh in Szeged (1:37.53), seventh in Brandenburg (1:40.59), seventh at the Europeans (1:35.42). Taking the 38-year-old out of the four and giving the seat to Lopes is a bet on 2027 and 2028 rather than on a Poznań final.

Brito is coming off the Junior and U23 European Championships in Szeged, where she made the K1 500 m final and finished eighth in 2:11.40 after winning her semifinal in 1:52.59. At the senior Europeans in June she was fifth in the K1 500 m B final in 1:53.93. Duarte, meanwhile, was ninth in the K1 200 m final at the 2025 U23 Worlds. Rego Gomes gets the K1 5000 m — a distance where Portugal has form through Pimenta, and a chance for the 24-year-old to race the distance at world level.

Canoe and paracanoe. The women's canoe entries rest on Beatriz Fernandes, born in 2004, who won U23 silver in the C1 500 m at the 2025 Junior and U23 Worlds in 2:11.45. This year she reached the C1 200 m final at the Europeans and finished seventh in 46.24; her C2 500 m with Inês Penetra (2001) has made three A finals and finished ninth in all three — Szeged (1:59.21), the Europeans (2:08.66) and Montreal (2:10.70). In Poznań she races the C1 200 m and the C2 500 m, and a place in the 200 m final would be a step up on paper.

The paracanoe trio is where Portugal has its most decorated athlete outside the kayak group. Norberto Mourão, born in 1980, is the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic bronze medallist in the VL2 and a three-time world championship medallist (silver in 2019, bronze in 2021 and 2022). He won the VL2 200 m at the 2026 Europeans in 52.24 and was fifth in Montreal in 55.93. Alex Santos (KL1, born 1981) has been fifth at both the Europeans (49.74) and in Montreal (54.44) this year, and was sixth in Brandenburg. Matilde Nunes, in the KL3, reached the semifinal at the Europeans in 56.89.

What's next: five days on Lake Malta

The championships run from Wednesday 26 August to Sunday 30 August on Lake Malta, the course that staged a World Cup round in May 2025. For the Portuguese men the K4 500 m and K2 500 m sit in the Olympic-programme events, and the K4's Montreal silver (1:22.23) makes it the boat to watch first. Pimenta's K1 1000 m final and the K1 5000 m — a mass-start race with turns — will decide whether the five-time world champion adds to his haul.

The women's list is about seat time. Portela's K1 500 m is the individual test; the K2 and K4 are about a young crew learning the senior world championship stage. And in paracanoe, Mourão in the VL2 200 m arrives as the reigning European champion.

Portugal will also have half an eye on the next two years: with Los Angeles 2028 on the horizon, seat time in the K4 for a 20-year-old like Duarte matters as much as the result sheet.

Portugal's list joins the squads already announced by Hungary, Italy and Denmark; the schedule, the favourites and the Polish hosts' line-up are in the guide to the 2026 Worlds in Poznań.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is in the Portugal team for the 2026 canoe sprint World Championships in Poznań?

Portugal named 16 athletes: 13 sprint canoeists — Fernando Pimenta, João Ribeiro, Messias Baptista, Gustavo Gonçalves, Pedro Casinha, Teresa Portela, Maria Rego Gomes, Ana Brito, Clara Duarte, Francisca Lopes, Ana Rodrigues, Beatriz Fernandes and Inês Penetra — and three paracanoeists, Alex Santos, Norberto Mourão and Matilde Nunes.

Which events will Fernando Pimenta race in Poznań 2026?

Pimenta races the K1 1000 m and the K1 5000 m. In 2026 he has won both events at the Szeged and Montreal World Cups, and he took European gold in the 5000 m and bronze in the 1000 m in June.

When are the 2026 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Poznań?

From Wednesday 26 August to Sunday 30 August 2026, on the Lake Malta regatta course. It is the fourth time Poznań hosts the Worlds, after 1990, 2001 and 2010.

Why is Portugal not racing the K1 200 m men in Poznań?

The federation entered Messias Baptista and Pedro Casinha — the 2024 world champion and the 2026 Szeged World Cup winner over 200 m — only in the K2 500 m and K4 500 m. The men's 200 m is a non-Olympic event, and the K4 500 m took World Cup silver in Montreal in 1:22.23; both men's starts go to the crew boats.

Is Portugal's men's K4 500 m a medal contender in Poznań 2026?

The evidence says it is close: fourth in Szeged (1:19.02), fourth in Brandenburg (1:21.47), fourth at the Europeans (1:18.65) and second in Montreal (1:22.23). Four finals, four top-four finishes — the boat has been within a length of the podium all season.

Is Fernando Pimenta's era coming to an end?

Not on the 2026 numbers. He won the K1 1000 m in Szeged in 3:22.25 — faster than his Tokyo Olympic bronze-medal time of 3:22.48 — and he has not finished lower than second in a K1 5000 m final this year. The one dip is the K1 500 m, where he was ninth at the Europeans, and he has left that distance out of his Poznań programme.

Why is Teresa Portela racing the K1 500 m and not the K2 in Poznań?

Her K2 500 m with Clara Duarte finished in the B final at all four major regattas in 2026, and Portugal has not entered the mixed K2 500 m — the event where she won world gold in 2024 — in Poznań. The K1 500 m is her Olympic event, in which she was seventh in the Tokyo final.

Who is Norberto Mourão?

A Portuguese paracanoeist born in 1980 who won Paralympic bronze in the VL2 at Tokyo 2020 and world championship medals in 2019, 2021 and 2022. He is the reigning European champion in the VL2 200 m (52.24 in June 2026) and races the same event in Poznań.

Portugal arrives in Poznań with one man who can win, one crew that has been knocking on the door since May, and a women's group built for the next cycle. Fernando Pimenta starts the K1 1000 m on Lake Malta with the fastest time of his 2026 season already in the bank; the rest of the World Championships in Poznań will tell whether the K4 turns its fourth places into metal.

Sources: Federação Portuguesa de Canoagem team announcement (15 August 2026); ICF and ECA results 2019–2026.

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