The VL events were the first paracanoe races to take place on the course in Portugal. In the VL3 200 event, Ukraine's Vladyslav Yepifanov posted the fastest heat time, signalling a serious challenge for another gold medal. He was followed in the heats by Great Britain's Stuart Wood and France's Abel Aber. In the men's VL2 200 event, Roman Serebriakov (AIN-A) set the fastest time of the heats. The athletes who came closest to him from different heats groups were Spain's Higinio Rivero and Great Britain's Edward Clifton.
Charlotte Henshaw of Great Britain made an excellent start to the European Championships. She posted the fastest times of the day in both the women's VL3 200 and women's KL2 200 events. In the VL3 200 event, the closest athletes to her on time were her compatriot Hope Gordon and Larisa Volik (AIN-A), while in the KL2 200 event Hungary's Katalin Varga and Germany's Anja Adler recorded the second- and third-fastest times respectively.
British athletes also impressed in the women's KL3 200 event, where Hope Gordon recorded the fastest time of the day, while David Phillipson was the quickest in the men's KL2 200 event. In the women's KL2 200, France's Nelia Barbosa set the second-fastest heat time, followed by Poland's Katarzyna Sobczak. In the men's KL2 200 event, Austria's Markus Swoboda and Hungary's Tibor Kiss came closest to the British paddler's time.
Serhii Yemelianov, representing Georgia, was the fastest qualifier in the men's KL3 200 event. Great Britain's Robert Oliver and Czechia's Vojtech Prochazka were the closest challengers based on the heat times.
Seven events will feature semifinals on Friday.
12.6.2026
