The 2025 ECA Canoe Marathon European Championships concluded over the weekend with an outstanding medal haul for the Irish team. Held in Ponte De Lima, Portugal, these Championships saw competition across a wide range of age categories and distances, with Ireland well represented in the racing.

Two of the biggest highlights of the event came from junior paddler Sean Butterly, taking home silver and bronze medals for Ireland. The first of these came on the first day of competition, with Sean winning silver in the Junior Mens K1 Short Course event, behind William Short of Great Britain. In the same race Ireland’s Sean Smyth secured an eight place finish with some consistent paddling. Continuing Ireland’s success in the short course events was Lucy Cullen, who narrowly missed out on a medal in the Junior K1 Womens race, finishing in fourth. Battling home in sixteenth in the same race was Sadb Shannon.

Day two of the event brough more strong performances and near misses, with Lucy Cullen again impressing with a fifth place finish in the Junior Womens long course event. An early swim for Emily Roche in this race unfortunately knocked her out of contention, but she demonstrated some superb resilience to carry on and battle through to the finish.

Image: An Irish paddler in a yellow kayak races alongside a red and a white kayak. The Irish paddler is wearing a green singlet

Saturday morning saw another great medal possibility for Ireland in the Junior Mens long course event, where Sean Butterly and Sean Smyth were again competing. Following on from his superb performance in the Short Course event, Sean Butterly proved his form, taking a bronze medal after some exciting racing. Sean Smyth improved on his Short Course placing, finish in seventh.

Image: Three young paddlers stand on a podium with banners of the European Canoe Association in the background. An athlete from Italy is wearing a gold medal, an athlete from Great Britain the Silver and an Irish athlete has won bronze

A notable moment from the event were the performances of our two junior K2 crews. Ireland fielding Junior Men’s and Women’s K2 crews was already a success story in itself, adding some great depth to the team, and when you add in some great performances from these young paddlers it paints a promising view of the future. In the Junior Women’s K2 of Emily Roche and Sadb Shannon finished up in thirteenth in their event, with the Junior Mens crew of Sean Smyth and Sean Butterly coming home in eight.

Image: A double kayak races in front of an old stone bridge. Two girls are paddling the kayak. The craft is bright blue, and the two girls are wearing green 'Ireland' singlets

Preceding these Championships were the Canoe Masters Marathon Championships in which Ireland saw similar success, taking home another two medals. In the K1 Women 65-69 event Breda Keating took home a bronze medal behind some strong competition from Denmark and the Netherlands. Breda returned to the podium in the K2 Mixed 65-74 category with husband Michael Keating, winning a silver medal behind the Danish crew.

The focus now shifts to the Marathon World Championships later this year in September. Gyor in Hungary will play host to both the Masters World Championships and the Canoe Marathon World Championships, where Ireland will hope to build on a very strong Euros and take home some more silverware.

Image: An older man and woman stand on a podium wearing silver medals. They are wearing green 'Ireland' tracksuit tops. A river can be seen in the background

Photos – John Butterly