Even though ICF – Paddle Worldwide hides its live broadcast behind a paywall, and there are no highlight reels or photo albums, we at Stand Up Magazine are still covering the action. With that in mind, a big thank you to everyone who shares their photos on social media, and a special shout-out to Matieu—because without TotalSUP, we’d know even less. That’s how we were able to put together this recap of the second day of finals for you :

SUP World Championships 2026 Sabaudia – Technical Race Results

It was a special day for Puerto Rico’s Mariecarmen Rivera, who claimed her second consecutive Technical Race world title at the Stand Up Paddling World Championships.

The crowd in Sabaudia, Italy, created a fantastic atmosphere as Rivera overcame fierce competition to take home another gold medal.

Following a chaotic start in the men’s Technical Race final, Spain’s Aaron Sanchez Quetglas quickly established himself as the leader and successfully defended his world title.

Rivera, who had won silver in the Sprint the previous day, moved up one position on the second day of finals to stand on top of the podium.

“I was paddling so hard and I just gave everything.

I was thinking to myself, don’t let those girls get you.

To be the Technical champion again is a great feeling, and it’s always a pleasure to represent my country and do my best.

Going back-to-back means that I’m consistent and I’m going to keep doing it.”

Spain’s Duna Rodriguez secured silver in 5:06.96, while her compatriot Alba Alonso Frey completed the podium in 5:10.77.

Despite the enthusiastic support from the home crowd, 20-year-old Italian star Cecilia Pampinella was unable to add another medal to her collection following her Sprint victory the previous day.

Chaotic Start in the Men’s Final

There was early drama in the men’s final when a collision between several boards resulted in Spain’s Antonio Sanchez breaking his paddle.

His compatriot and eventual gold medalist, Aaron Sanchez Quetglas, remained unfazed by the incident.

As the finish line came into sight, Aaron had established a lead of approximately six seconds over his closest competitor.

He crossed the finish line in 4:37.39, greeted by loud cheers from the crowd.

“I feel a bit destroyed but I feel so good,” he said after the race.

“When you’re out there the race feels so quick, but I felt strong in every stroke, and I kept the first position from the beginning.

It’s so difficult because I couldn’t see anyone, but I kept listening to everyone.

I knew that they were trying to go past me, but I protected my lead.

I will now focus on tomorrow, but I will go and celebrate with my family.”

France’s Noic Garioud claimed silver in 4:43.52, marking a successful comeback after missing the previous World Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Multiple world champion Connor Baxter from the United States secured bronze in 4:45.58.

Rivera Celebrates Her Fourth World Title

The Puerto Rican maintained an impressive pace throughout the race, particularly in the second half, where she established a lead that left her competitors chasing.

Crossing the finish line in 5:04.28, Rivera secured her fourth world championship title overall and her second Technical Race world title.

“I feel great,” said Rivera.

Race Results – The Stand Up Magazin Recap

Open Men – Technical Race Final

What a WOW final! We really wish we could have been there.

Aaron Sanchez clearly left the competition behind. But it wasn’t necessarily the competition we would traditionally have expected.

Instead, two legendary SUP athletes who were aiming for a comeback in 2026 stole the spotlight: Noic Garioud and none other than Connor Baxter.

While Aaron pulled away at the front, Noic finished just under two seconds ahead of Connor to claim second place. Connor secured bronze by the narrowest of margins over Christian Andersen, whom we had actually expected to see on the podium.

Instead, the “Old Boys Club” stole the show.

The original top favorite, Shrimpy Araki, fell into the water during the chaos at the first buoy, effectively ending his hopes of winning gold.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Aaron Sanchez	ESP	4:37.39	—
2	Noic Garioud	FRA	4:43.52	+6.12
3	Connor Baxter	USA	4:45.58	+8.18
4	Christian Andersen	DEN	4:45.88	+8.49
5	Manuel Hoyuela	ESP	4:51.92	+14.52
6	Lluis Perotti	ESP	5:16.10	+38.70
7	Shuri Araki	JPN	5:36.03	+58.64

Open Women – Technical Race Final

Marie Carmen Rivera secured another world title with an outstanding performance in Sabaudia.

Duna Gordillo was right on her heels, but in the end, the Spaniard fell just under three seconds short of victory.

Alba Frey, the European SUP League champion, finished third, almost seven seconds behind the winner.

Newly crowned Sprint world champion Cecilia Pampinella missed the podium by less than half a second.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Mariecarmen Rivera	PUR	5:04.28	—
2	Duna Rodriguez	ESP	5:06.96	+2.68
3	Alba Frey	ESP	5:10.77	+6.49
4	Cecilia Pampinella	ITA	5:11.53	+7.25
5	Csillag Kocsis	HUN	5:12.30	+8.02
6	Juliette DuHaime	ARG	5:18.74	+14.45
7	Rika Okuaki	JPN	5:28.94	+24.66
8	Natalia Novitskaia	AIN-A	5:32.10	+27.82

Junior Men – Technical Race Final

In the Junior division, our attention was firmly focused on the young German talents.

It was Marlon Daskiran who claimed his second silver medal of the championships.

Japan’s Tatsuma Nishikawa was significantly faster, but Marlon comfortably secured silver with a lead of more than five seconds over Portugal’s Lourenco Viveiros.

Somewhat surprising was the performance of the usually successful Benyam Bossack. After missing Friday’s Sprint A-Final, he finished only fifth in Saturday’s Technical Race.

We are now very curious to see how the two German athletes will perform in Sunday’s Long Distance race.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Tatsuma Nishikawa	JPN	4:36.85	—
2	Marlon Daskiran	GER	4:44.50	+7.64
3	Lourenco Viveiros	POR	4:50.22	+13.36
4	Matei Barbu	ROU	4:52.28	+15.42
5	Benyam Bossack	GER	4:53.78	+16.92
6	Gianluca Corriero	ITA	4:54.48	+17.62
7	Alfred Barbeito	GBR	4:55.02	+18.16
8	Ruben Cantoral	ESP	5:07.24	+30.38

Junior Women – Technical Race Final

In the Junior Women’s division, Spain’s Bianca Toncelli took victory with a two-second lead over Italy’s Claudia Postiglione. Both are familiar names we have seen repeatedly throughout the racing season.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Bianca Toncelli	ESP	5:20.95	—
2	Claudia Postiglione	ITA	5:23.00	+2.04
3	Otono Hirata	JPN	5:25.12	+4.16
4	Rosara Davis	NZL	5:33.67	+12.71
5	Sveva Sabato	ITA	5:35.23	+14.27
6	Lisa Venturelli	ITA	5:35.50	+14.54
7	Preziosa Chiarelli	ITA	5:42.27	+21.31
8	Nuria Chiquero	ESP	5:51.26	+30.30

Men 40+ – Technical Race Final

Manuel Lauble is ON TOP again!

Will Manuel become the Peter Weidert of the 40+ division?

If he manages to claim another gold medal in the Long Distance race, he will achieve something that, until now, only Peter has accomplished.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Manuel Lauble	GER	4:48.46	—
2	Ryohei Yoshida	JPN	4:52.57	+4.10
3	Roberto Canedo	ESP	5:01.92	+13.45
4	Francisco Giusti	ARG	5:08.54	+20.07
5	Martin Teichmann	GER	5:11.05	+22.58
6	Alex Prapas	GRE	5:13.69	+25.22
7	Takahiro Kashiwabara	JPN	5:17.68	+29.21
8	Hermann Husslein	THA	5:26.10	+37.63

Women 40+ – Technical Race Final

Two long-established SUP athletes dominated the Women’s 40+ division.

Laura Quetglas and Petronella van Malsen clearly secured first and second place, respectively.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Laura Quetglas	ESP	5:32.05	—
2	Petronella Van Malsen	NED	5:37.71	+5.66
3	Claudia Luchetta	ITA	5:46.59	+14.54
4	Sandra Grecco	ARG	5:50.45	+18.40
5	Giannisa Vecco	PER	5:50.87	+18.82
6	Ariel Amaral	CAN	5:58.61	+26.56
7	Malgorzata Cieplinska	POL	6:04.49	+32.44
8	Virginie Samson	FRA	6:09.51	+37.46

Men 50+ – Technical Race Final

Peter Weidert, the Golden Boy of Sarasota, narrowly missed out on gold.

We are looking forward to the Long Distance race, where he will once again be among the favorites.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Michael Fargier	FRA	5:01.01	—
2	Peter Weidert	GER	5:01.35	+0.33
3	Tommy Buday	CAN	5:12.06	+11.04
4	Gabor Szabo	HUN	5:15.55	+14.53
5	David Boehne	USA	5:22.80	+21.78
6	Daniel Parres	ESP	5:24.95	+23.93
7	Daniele Cani	ITA	5:28.58	+27.56
8	Vladislav Rojnov	MDA	5:34.44	+33.42

Women 50+ – Technical Race Final

With Andrea Forrer, a Swiss woman has reached an A-Final at a World Championship for the first time.

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time	Gap
1	Katerina Trdlova	CZE	5:44.05	—
2	Ginnie Betts	GBR	5:49.60	+5.54
3	Edith Turcotte	CAN	5:54.35	+10.30
4	Penny Tsaoutou	GRE	6:02.00	+17.95
5	Maria Rodriguez	ESP	6:08.53	+24.47
6	Silvia Carletti	ITA	6:12.17	+28.12
7	Andrea Forrer	SUI	6:12.96	+28.91
8	Larisa Briukhanova	AIN-A	6:17.82	+33.76

Cecilia Pampinella Celebrates Her First World Championship Title

Cecilia Pampinella, just 20 years old, could barely contain her emotions after crossing the finish line. With a time of 28.69 seconds, the Italian secured her first world championship title in the Open class. What makes this especially wonderful for Pampinella is that she lives just two hours away from the venue. The title is well-deserved. Cecilia has been one of the fastest junior athletes for years and has now made it to the very top in her second year in the Open class.

Defending champion Mariecarmen Rivera of Puerto Rico had to settle for silver. Just 0.21 seconds separated the two athletes. Hanna Kaminska of Poland, just 19 years old, rounded out the podium.

Thanks to TotalSUP for this video.

Vadim Korobov defeats defending champion Sergio Cantoral

There was also a new world champion in the men’s division. Vadim Korobov of Lithuania won with a time of 23.31 seconds, fulfilling a long-held dream. Just last year, he had been defeated by Sergio Cantoral, but this time he turned the tables.

Yet the final got off to anything but a great start for Korobov. After a false start, he was very nervous. On his second attempt, he didn’t get off to a perfect start, but was able to give it his all on the track.

Sergio Cantoral took silver ahead of his Spanish compatriot Manuel Hoyuela. The final was particularly disappointing for France’s Noic Garioud, who missed the podium by just five hundredths of a second.

Thanks to TotalSUP for this video.

Sprint Open Results

Open Women

Rank	Female athlete	Nation	Time
1	Cecilia Pampinella	ITA	28.69
2	Mariecarmen Rivera	PUR	28.90
3	Hanna Kaminska	POL	28.96
4	Alba Frey	ESP	29.64
5	Seychelle Webster	United States	29.69
6	Elene Etxeberria	ESP	31.25
7	Natalia Novitskaia	AIN	31.42
8	Skadi Longleg	GER	31.84

Open Men

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Vadim Korobov	LTU	23.31
2	Sergio Cantoral	ESP	24.05
3	Manuel Hoyuela	ESP	24.38
4	Noic Garioud	FRA	24.43
5	Christian Andersen	DEN	24.90
6	Cameron Tripney	RSA	24.94
7	Donato Freens	NED	25.14
8	Aaron Sanchez	ESP	25.41

Junior Division: Silver for Germany and a Strong Greek Team

In the junior division, Romania’s Matei Barbu clinched the world championship title with a time of 23.74 seconds. Just 0.22 seconds behind him was Germany’s Marlon Daskiran, who put in an outstanding performance to take silver. We at Stand Up Magazine are especially happy for Marlon. Marlon has been competing in the sport for a few years now, and this is an absolute milestone for him.

In the junior women’s division, Pavlina Kankova of the Czech Republic took the win. What was particularly striking, however, was the strong showing by the young Greek athletes. With Ioanna Papadimitriou in second place, Erasmia Malekaki in fourth, and Marina Ergazaki in seventh, three Greek athletes made it to the finals. A strong new generation is clearly emerging here.

Junior Men – Sprint Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Matei Barbu	ROU	23.74
2	Marlon Daskiran	GER	23.96
3	Lourenco Viveiros	POR	24.14
4	Tatsuma Nishikawa	JPN	24.36
5	Ruben Cantoral	ESP	25.11
6	Gianluca Corriero	ITA	25.14
7	Giulio Lazzarini	ITA	26.14
8	Nagito Hirata	JPN	26.21

Junior Women – Sprint Final

Rank	Female athlete	Nation	Time
1	Pavlina Kankova	CZE	30.14
2	Ioanna Papadimitriou	GRE	30.47
3	Nuria Chiquero	ESP	30.93
4	Erasmia Malekaki	GRE	31.18
5	Sveva Sabato	ITA	31.54
6	Lisa Venturelli	ITA	31.68
7	Marina Ergazaki	GRE	31.73
8	Otono Hirata	JPN	32.93

Masters: Hundredths of a Second and Heartwarming Stories

The competition was just as intense in the Masters division, with every hundredth of a second on the line. The Men’s 40+ final was particularly spectacular, as Manuel Lauble and Lucas Correa crossed the finish line at the same time.

In the Women’s 40+ division, Petronella van Malsen claimed the world championship title. It’s a wonderful achievement for an athlete who has been involved in SUP practically since its inception and is still competing at the highest level.

Men’s Masters 40+ – Sprint Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Manuel Lauble	GER	25.80
1	Lucas Correa	ARG	25.80
3	Ryohei Yoshida	JPN	25.90

There was a surprise in the Men’s 50+ division: Germany’s Peter Weidert missed the podium for the first time. With a time of 27.50 seconds, he finished in fourth place, just 0.11 seconds behind third-place finisher Zhomart Satubaldin of Kazakhstan.

Men’s Masters 50+ – Sprint Final

Rank	Athlete	Nation	Time
1	Chris Stringer	CAN	27.12
2	Tommy Buday	CAN	27.36
3	Zhomart Satubaldin	KAZ	27.39
4	Peter Weidert	GER	27.50

A Very Special World Championship Title for Ginnie Betts

One of the most emotional stories of this first day of the finals came from Britain’s Ginnie Betts. After battling cancer and returning to competitive sports, she secured the world championship title in the women’s 50+ division.

A title that goes far beyond athletic success. We at Stand Up Magazine would like to extend a special congratulations to Ginnie on this achievement. Stories like this show that sports aren’t always just about seconds and medals.

The first day of finals in Sabaudia has come to a close with the sprint events. The new world champions have been crowned, but the next title decisions are already on the horizon.

Imagine if Stand Up Magazine had as many subscribers as the ICF attendees. We’d be there live with videos—all without a paywall.

Please help make this dream come true.