Calm waters and lifelong recollections as European Aquatics Masters Open Water Swimming Tour continues in Sukoro

Masters open water swimming introduced its signature heat of spirit to Hungary’s Lake Velence on Friday, because the second leg of the European Aquatics Open Water Swimming Masters Tour 2026 befell in Sukoro on the opening day of the European Aquatics Junior Open Water Swimming Championships weekend.

Following the disrupted opener in Protaras, the place the elite race was cancelled and the Special Olympics occasion moved into the pool due to tough seas, this was a far gentler affair.

Conditions on the lake have been calm, and with the lads’s and ladies’s 3km races run again to again within the afternoon and early night, there was a relaxed, sociable really feel to proceedings from begin to end.

Germany’s Maximilian Hils made it back-to-back wins within the 25-29 class, having additionally taken the title in Protaras. Norway’s Håkon Skaarud Karlsen, gold medallist within the 45-49 age group in Cyprus, backed that up with one other win on the Katalin Kovacs National Kayak Academy .

Martin Foster and Alan Parkins each added to their tallies for Great Britain, successful the 60-64 and 65-69 classes respectively, with Italy’s Simone Di Sabato additionally going back-to-back within the 50-54 age group.

One title stood out above all, nonetheless. Great Britain’s Michael Read, competing within the 85-89 class, was the oldest athlete within the discipline by a long way.

Read is known as a legend of long-distance swimming, having crossed the English Channel 33 instances and held the King of the Channel title for over 20 years.

Now in his mid-eighties, he nonetheless travels to compete internationally, and his outing in Sukoro is the most recent in what he hopes can be an ever longer sequence of appearances.

The girls’s races have been equally properly contested. Hungary’s Gloria Okos edged out Italy’s Alina Panzetti within the 25-29 class, whereas Great Britain’s Carly Fraser, one other silver medallist from Protaras, went one higher in Sukoro to win the 30-34 title.

Viktoria Haden-Felfoldi produced one of many strongest swims of the day to take the 40-44 class for the house nation, and Ireland’s Dymphna Morris, Germany’s Jana Gareis and Spain’s Marta Vila Fortuny all added additional titles to their names from the tour’s opening weekend.

Once the medals had been introduced in-front of the viewing gallery, athletes, coaches and officers stayed on for a social gathering by the lake. It was a becoming method to mark the midway level of the tour, and was an instance of the persevering with good spirit that the Masters Tour has developed since its introduction.

The Tour now heads to its closing cease in Samorin, Slovakia, the place it is going to conclude through the European Aquatics Masters Championships 2026, with general champions topped after tallying the full scores throughout the three legs.

Click right here to view the Masters Tour occasion web page.

Click here to view the full results from the competition.

Stephen Stanley for European Aquatics