SUP Alps Trophy The Lake Rocks Results

Lake Rocks SUP Festival 2026 in Austria Delivers World-Class Racing Despite Challenging Weather

Despite difficult weather conditions, the Lake Rocks SUP Festival 2026 in Villach, Austria, once again proved why it has become one of the standout events on the European Stand Up Paddle calendar. Organized by the SUP Alps Trophy, the festival attracted elite athletes from around the world and delivered four days of world-class SUP racing on one of Austria’s most scenic lakes.

The unique festival format continues to entice paddlers from across the globe to travel to the remote Austrian venue. This year, the Japanese delegation made the longest journey, led by reigning world champion Shuri Araki. The sole athlete representing the United States was 2024 Sprint World Champion Paris Katniss, while legendary Australian paddler Michael Booth traveled to Villach to host SUP clinics and coach athletes throughout the event.

Four Days of Elite SUP Racing in Villach, Austria

The Lake Rocks SUP Festival showcased four days of high-level competition, supported by a professional live webcast on YouTube and Facebook. While rain and overcast skies dominated the first days of the festival, Sunday delivered Villach at its best, with sunshine and the event’s signature deep-blue lake creating spectacular racing conditions.

Cecilia Pampinella and Shuri Araki Dominate Lake Rocks SUP Festival

The standout athletes of the weekend were Italy’s Cecilia Pampinella and Japan’s Shuri Araki, both delivering dominant performances across multiple disciplines.

Pampinella once again confirmed her place among the fastest paddlers in the world, claiming gold medals in both the Sprint Race and Technical Race. In the Long Distance race, she narrowly missed victory, finishing just over four seconds behind Spain’s Espe Barreras while still securing an impressive third place.

On the men’s side, Shuri Araki claimed double gold during the weekend but failed to crack the Top 10 in Friday’s Sprint Race, reinforcing the notion that sprint racing is not his strongest discipline.

Rai Taguchi Returns to Europe

Another noteworthy performance came from Japan’s Rai Taguchi, whose presence in Austria was welcomed by many in the SUP community. After a strong 2024 season, Taguchi lost his place on the Starboard Dream Team, which appeared to impact his 2025 campaign as he competed at fewer events. At Lake Rocks, however, he reminded everyone of his talent by securing silver in the Long Distance race and helping Japan achieve a double podium finish.

Donato Freens, Aaron Sanchez, Duna Gordillo and Csillag Kocsis Impress

Dutch paddler Donato Freens delivered another solid performance, finishing the weekend with two third-place results. However, he was unable to qualify for the Sprint finals.

Hungary’s Csillag Kocsis also opened her race season in strong fashion. She secured third place in the Sprint Race, second place in the Technical Race, and narrowly missed the Long Distance podium with a fourth-place finish, crossing the line approximately 10 seconds behind Cecilia Pampinella.

Noteworthy is also the performance of Duna Gordillo, she finished the weekend with a second and third place, showing the world that she always belongs on the podium.

Spain’s Aaron Sanchez also enjoyed a strong weekend, finishing second in both the Sprint and Technical Race. However, he narrowly missed out on a Long Distance podium finish, falling just six seconds short of Donato Freens.

Recognition for the Veteran Athletes

Special recognition goes to Spain’s Espe Barreras and Germany’s Normen Weber, both competing in age categories well above many of their younger competitors.

Barreras continues to dominate the long-distance SUP scene and added another major result to her already remarkable career. Meanwhile, Weber once again showed why he is such an enigma. The German full-time army soldier was the only 40+ paddler to finish inside the Long Distance Top 10 and also secured a podium finish in the Technical Race.

Some Big Names Missing from Lake Rocks SUP Festival 2026

While the competition level remained high, several notable international athletes were absent from the event. Among the missing names were Marie-Carmen Rivera, who has yet to appear at European races this season, along with Juliette DuHaime. The ESL leader Alba Frey was also missing.

South American stars such as Itzel Delgado, David Leão, and Eri Tenorio were also absent, while Denmark’s Christian Andersen has been absent all togehter in Europe so far.

The reduced presence of additional high-profile athletes may not necessarily reflect on the event itself, but could instead be linked to rising travel costs and scheduling conflicts. Still, fans of international SUP racing will be hoping to see more of the sport’s biggest names going head-to-head before the ICF World Championships later this season.

Friday Speed Race

206 Results Registered

Saturday Longdistance

269 Results Registered

Top 20 Men of 172

Rank	Participant	Category	Country	Finish time	Behind #1
1	Araki Shuri	(M) Open	JPN	1:09:31.56
2	Taguchi Rai	(M) Open	JPN	1:09:37.02	+05.45
3	Freens Donato	(M) Open	NED	1:09:44.36	+12.79
4	Sanchez Aaron	(M) Open	ESP	1:09:51.92	+20.35
5	Szabo Zeno	(M) Open	HUN	1:09:53.82	+22.25
6	Ricco Nicolò Vincenzo	(M) Open	ITA	1:09:56.84	+25.27
7	Weber Normen	(M) Masters 40	GER	1:09:57.70	+26.14
8	Nishikawa Tatsuma	(M) Open	JPN	1:09:58.75	+27.18
9	Perotti ferriol Lluis	(M) Open	ESP	1:09:59.07	+27.50
10	Bossack Benyam	(M) Open	GER	1:10:08.95	+37.38
11	Booth Michael	(M) Open	AUS	1:10:10.59	+39.02
12	Lazzarini Giulio	(M) Open	ITA	1:10:12.92	+41.35
13	Schwarz Ole	(M) Open	AUT	1:10:15.87	+44.30
14	TEULADE Ludovic	(M) Open	FRA	1:10:16.71	+45.14
15	Montanari Leonardo	(M) U16	ITA	1:10:23.42	+51.85
16	Von Allmen Bodie	(M) Open	USA	1:10:33.73	+1:02.16
17	Mandoloni Enrico	(M) Open	ITA	1:10:51.34	+1:19.77
18	Corriero Gianluca	(M) Open	ITA	1:10:53.04	+1:21.47
19	Van Bakel Joep	(M) Masters 40	NED	1:10:58.73	+1:27.16
20	Lauble Manuel	(M) Masters 40	GER	1:11:00.21	+1:28.64

Top 20 Women of 97

Pos.	Participant	Category	Country	Finish time	Behind #1
1	Barreras Espe	(W) Masters 40	ESP	1:14:02.49
2	Gordillo Rodríguez Duna	(W) Open	ESP	1:14:05.15	+02.66
3	Pampinella Cecilia	(W) Open	ITA	1:14:06.87	+04.38
4	Kocsis Csillag Virág	(W) Open	HUN	1:14:18.75	+16.26
5	Venturelli Lisa	(W) Open	ITA	1:17:08.02	+3:05.53
6	Nitti Laura	(W) Open	ITA	1:18:49.08	+4:46.59
7	Page Annabel	(W) Open	ENG	1:18:52.72	+4:50.23
8	Diestel Oda	(W) Open	GER	1:18:52.91	+4:50.42
9	Ebenspanger Dóra	(W) Open	HUN	1:19:56.26	+5:53.77
10	De Stefano Sara	(W) Open	ITA	1:19:59.60	+5:57.11
11	Lemekha Vira	(W) Masters 40	UKR	1:20:03.79	+6:01.30
12	Hoeboer Marin	(W) Open	NED	1:20:06.31	+6:03.82
13	Miedema Marrit	(W) U16	NED	1:21:01.18	+6:58.69
14	Dr. Eder-Meyer Susanne	(W) Masters 50	GER	1:21:55.98	+7:53.49
15	Della Chiesa Silvia	(W) U16	ITA	1:22:06.89	+8:04.40
16	Soukupová Valerie	(W) Open	CZE	1:22:27.50	+8:25.01
17	Luchetta Claudia	(W) Masters 40	ITA	1:23:00.69	+8:58.20
18	Forrer Andrea	(W) Masters 50	SUI	1:23:04.25	+9:01.76
19	Migani Samantha	(W) Masters 40	ITA	1:23:18.21	+9:15.72
20	Mahoney Yvi	(W) Masters 40	SUI	1:23:18.51	+9:16.02

Tech Race Finals

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