La Línea de Concepción, at the very southern tip of Spain, will play host to the 2026 European Beach Sprint Championships over the next two days, offering an intriguing preview of worlds in China. With many of the top beach sprint athletes hailing from Europe, and with the region’s continental championships arguably being the most closely contested—there will be 30 senior men’s solos, 21 women’s and 24 mixed doubles—the regatta promises to be the biggest race so far this year.
Fans from around the world, and even rival teams from key countries outside of Europe—the USA, China, New Zealand and Australia, for example—will also be able to follow along via the World Rowing YouTube channel. (See below for the provisional schedule and livestream links.)
This marks the fifth anniversary of the European championships, and the first time they have returned to Spain since the inaugural edition in Donostia/San Sebastián in 2022.
Racing will take place from the Poniente Beach on the western side of La Línea. This is inside the relatively protected Bay of Algeciras, and throughout two days of training, the water has been very calm.
The current forecast predicts similar conditions through most of the initial time trials tomorrow morning, and again for the final rounds on Thursday. However, a strong westerly wind is scheduled to develop through Wednesday afternoon, which could complicate the second time trials and knockout rounds. This would mean a headwind for boats on the outward slalom, and a tailwind, and waves, on the return to shore.
Austria’s Magdalena Lobnig, the top-ranked athlete in the women’s solo worldwide, is back to defend her European title from last year. But Great Britain’s Laura McKenzie, No. 2 in the rankings, returns too, which could set up a very interesting A final unless others can upset them.
Last year’s winner in the men’s solo, Great Britain’s James Cox, has switched to the mixed double, while the 2025 bronze medalist, France’s Mathis Nottelet, and the rest of the French team, are absent. So the only athlete to return from last year’s men’s solo podium is Spain’s Ander Martín, ranked second in the world behind the USA’s Chris Bak.
In the mixed double, the 2025 Portuguese winning duo of Patricia Batista and Afonso Duarte Costa return, but Germany switches the athletes from its second-placed double (Franz Werner and Sophie Leupold) into the solos. The bronze medalist Lithuanian double of Dominykas Jancionis and Martyna Kazlauskaite returns, though. Jancionis and Kazlauskaite won the European title in 2024, added the world titles in 2024 and 2025, and are both top-ranked worldwide. They are almost certainly the boat to beat.
The under-19 races can be harder to preview, since the top athletes are often the oldest, and thus age-out each year. None of last year’s European medal winners are defending their titles this year.
The provisional schedule and livestream links for this year’s European championships are (all times CET):
Wednesday, 16 September: Day 1 Livestream
- Time Trial 1:
- 08:30: U19 CM1x
- 09:00: U19 CW1x
- 09:35: CM1x
- 10:25: CW1x
- 11:00: PR3 CMix2x
- 11:10: U19 CMix2x
- 11:40: CMix2x
- Time Trial 2:
- 12:20: U19 CM1x
- 12:40: U19 CW1x
- 13:05: CM1x
- 13:40: CW1x
- 14:10: U19 CMix2x
- 14:35: CMix2x
- Knockouts and Last 16:
- 15:05: U19 CM1x
- 15:45: U19 CW1x
- 16:30: CM1x
- 17:10: CW1x
- 17:55: U19 CMix2x
- 18:35: CMix2x
Thursday, 17 September: Day 2 Livestream
- Finals:
- 09:00: U19 CM1x
- 09:50: U19 CW1x
- 10:45: CM1x
- 11:35: CW1x
- 12:30: PR3 CMix2x
- 12:40: U19 CMix2x
- 13:30: CMix2x
- Victory Ceremonies: 15:00