The European SUP League (ESL) is a continental racing circuit created to bring together the best of European stand-up paddle racing under one unified format. Founded by a collective of SUP club owners and event organizers, including Daniel Parres from the Parres Watersports Club, the league was built around a shared ambition: to elevate SUP racing, strengthen the European scene and bring the sport to a wider audience.
The ESL launched in 2025 with a test season featuring four events in Spain and Portugal, creating a new platform where elite athletes could compete regularly while benefiting from professional event organization and media exposure.
Following the success of its first season, the circuit expanded in 2026 to six events across five European countries, attracting world champions, national team athletes, emerging talents and passionate paddlers. The league features the sport’s key disciplines, including Technical Race and Long Distance, while maintaining a strong connection with the local identity of each host event.
A major focus of the European SUP League is storytelling and media production, with the goal of making SUP racing more accessible and engaging for a broader audience. Each event offers substantial prize money, while an additional overall prize purse rewards the best performers across the entire season at the final stop.
The first-ever European SUP League overall champions were crowned after the inaugural season, with Denmark’s Christian Andersen and Spain’s Alba Frey making history as the first male and female ESL title holders.
13 Jun 2026
The countdown is on to the biggest edition of The Big Paddle Festival yet, as the popular Swiss event prepares to make history as an official stop of the European SUP League (ESL). Organised by Florian Gander – Founder of SUPkultur Wassersport Center and Co-founder of the Swiss Stand-Up Paddle Association – the festival will […]
26 May 2026
The 2026 season is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for Sergio Cantoral. Following his signing with the NSP Team, the 21-year-old Spanish Champion has continued to build momentum with standout performances across the European circuit. Training with Club Deportivo Parres – one of Europe’s most successful SUP development programmes – Sergio heads into […]
24 May 2026
Now in its 7th edition, the Odra SUP Cup has established itself as one of Poland’s leading SUP races, and in 2026 the event takes another major step forward by officially joining the European SUP League (ESL) calendar as Stop #4 of the season. Taking place from 26 – 28 June 2026 in Rybnik, Poland, […]
21 May 2026
Lake Zürich has developed into a vibrant centre for watersports – a true hub framed by breathtaking alpine scenery and a rising stage for high-performance paddling. It has also emerged as a foiling and pump-foiling hotspot, where Jérôme Baudoux completed the full 22 km crossing non-stop in an extraordinary 1 hour and 44 minutes. This […]
30 Apr 2026
As the European SUP League (ESL) circuit heads to southern Italy, Lido Gandoli in Marina di Leporano will host three days of top-level stand-up paddle racing from 1-3 May. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Ionian Sea, the event will feature over €7,000 in prize money and bring together some of Europe’s best athletes. […]
23 Apr 2026
As the week heats up and the inaugural European SUP League (ESL) stop is about to kick off, we caught up with Maria Laura Metta – one of the founding members and advisors of SUP Academy Taranto, hosts of the European SUP League (ESL) Stop #2 in Taranto, Italy. A 23-year-old from Taranto, Maria Laura […]
19 Apr 2026
The Starboard rider from Port Adriano, Mallorca, has been moving steadily up the international ranks since his 2021 junior world title, and broke through at the highest senior level in 2025, winning the Open Men’s technical world title at the ICF Worlds in Abu Dhabi and taking silver in long distance. In a Spanish team that […]
16 Apr 2026
At just 19, Nicolò Ricco represents a new generation of stand-up paddle athletes – one that, despite its young age, can be defined by a more methodical approach to training and competing, dialling in every factor and optimising performance over time. A multiple Italian champion based in Bari, Italy, and the holder of several SUP […]
2 Apr 2026
Putting the spotlight on the next generation of SUP talent, Mario Tagarelli has transformed junior racing and athlete development in Italy. As Coach and President of SUP Academy Taranto, based at Lido Gandoli in Taranto, southern Italy, he is the mastermind behind a training programme that cultivates young paddlers and elevates clubs dedicated to developing […]
27 Mar 2026
Welcome to the very first episode of the TotalSUP.Training Podcast! Let’s be honest right from the start: this is our debut episode, and we’re very much in trial-and-error mode. We’re figuring things out as we go — format, rhythm, tone — and we’re learning in public. We don’t even have an official name for […]
26 Jun 2026
22 Mar 2026
Like every year, Spain will become the center of the international SUP race scene this April, as the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca returns from April 24 to 26, 2026, in Santa Pola, Alicante. Now in its sixth edition, the festival has established itself as one of the world’s largest SUP events, bringing together extensive […]
13 Mar 2026
Following its successful launch in 2025, the European SUP League (ESL) returns in 2026 with a broader international footprint and an expanded competitive structure. The inaugural season featured four events across two countries — three in Spain and one in Portugal — and marked the first step toward creating a unified professional circuit for SUP […]
