As the 2026 UIM Aquabike World Championship begins to come into focus, the early storylines are already pointing toward a season that could feel very different from years past.
A growing list of confirmed Official Riders has started to take shape across the premier categories, with defending world champions set to return—but they won’t be easing into a long campaign. Instead, they’ll be dropping into a tightly packed, late-season calendar that shifts the entire rhythm of the sport.
After early-season events were pushed back, the championship now opens in October, kicking off in Shanghai before moving through Olbia, Doha, and a still-to-be-confirmed Middle Eastern finale in December. It’s a shorter runway, with less margin for error—and that alone could change how titles are won and lost.
Champions Return With Something to Prove
All four reigning world champions are confirmed to return as Official Riders, each carrying a very different kind of pressure into 2026.
In Runabout GP1, François Medori is back once again chasing something that has so far eluded him—back-to-back world titles. With three championships already to his name, the Frenchman has proven he can reach the top, but repeating has remained just out of reach. In a condensed season, consistency won’t just matter—it’ll be everything.
Freestyle brings its own headline rivalry, as Roberto Mariani looks to defend the title he secured by just four points last season over Rashid Al Mulla. That razor-thin margin set the tone for one of the closest battles in recent memory, and there’s little reason to expect anything less as both return to the water.
Over in Ski GP1, Denmark’s Oliver Koch Hansen enters the season as the defending champion after a breakout 2025 campaign built on consistency. But his path won’t be clear for long. The return of Raphaël Maurin, a former runner-up stepping back into competition after several years away, immediately adds another layer of unpredictability to the class.
In Ski Ladies GP1, Estelle Poret faces a different kind of challenge—not just defending her title, but holding off a growing field. New Official Riders Héloïse Delcluze and Emy Garcia are stepping up after promising debuts, with Delcluze already showing podium pace in her first appearance last season.
A Season That Starts Late and Moves Fast
Beyond the rider list, the biggest shift for 2026 may be the calendar itself.
With the season now opening October 1–2 in Shanghai, the championship marks a long-awaited return to one of the sport’s most high-profile venues. It’s been more than a decade since Aquabike last raced in the Chinese megacity, and the stop is expected to set the tone for the entire season.
From there, the tour moves to familiar ground in Olbia, Italy, before heading to Doha, Qatar, and ultimately closing out in the Middle East in early December—at a venue still to be confirmed.
The result is a compressed, high-stakes run of events where momentum could swing quickly. A bad weekend won’t have months to recover from—and a strong one could carry all the way to a title.
The Next Wave Is Already Pushing Up
If the established names are feeling pressure, it’s not just coming from each other.
The 2025 season made it clear that a new generation is already knocking on the door. Breakout performances across both World and European competition highlighted just how deep the talent pool has become.
Koch Hansen’s rise to a Ski GP1 title was one of the clearest signs of that shift, but he’s far from alone. Across the junior and GP2/GP4 ranks, riders from Estonia, Hungary, Belgium, and beyond have been stacking wins and podiums, building toward the next step up.
Names like Mattias Reinass, Karl Joosep Steinberg, and Leo Kete have already shown dominance in their respective classes, while endurance racing saw one of the biggest surprises of the year with 16-year-old Boanerges Ratag claiming the World Endurance Championship after a string of podium finishes.
That pipeline of talent doesn’t just promise future competition—it suggests that the current front-runners may not have as much time as they think.
A Season Still Taking Shape
With more Official Riders set to be confirmed in the coming days, the full picture of the 2026 championship is still coming together. But even at this early stage, the ingredients are there for a compelling season.
A delayed start.
A condensed calendar.
Returning champions with unfinished business.
And a wave of young riders closing the gap.
By the time the series reaches its yet-to-be-announced final stop in December, it may not just be about who held the top spot—but who managed to adapt the fastest in a season that’s anything but typical.
See full press release below.
Thursday, April 16: The line-ups for the 2026 UIM Aquabike World Championship are beginning to take shape, with a growing list of Official Riders confirmed for the season.
As expected, the current world champions of all four major categories – Runabout GP1, Ski GP1, Ski Ladies GP1, and Freestyle – have been confirmed as Official Riders as they embark on a battle to retain their titles for another season.
Francois Medori has three Runabout GP1 world titles to his name, but has thus far proved unable to retain the top spot in the following season. The Frenchman therefore goes into 2026 with a fresh challenge: secure back-to-back world championships for the first time in his long and illustrious career.
In Freestyle, all eyes will be on Roberto Mariani as he attempts to flip, spin and trick his way into retaining his title. The Italian won last season by a tight margin of just four points over rival Rashid Al Mulla, setting up another highly competitive year at the top of Freestyle.
Oliver Koch Hansen and Estelle Poret both claimed their first world championships in the Ski GP1 and Ski Ladies GP1 categories respectively, but will each have an extra challenge this season as new riders enter the fray to try and knock them off the top spot.
Koch Hansen will be facing off with Raphael Maurin, who makes his highly anticipated return to the sport. The Frenchman last raced at the Grand Prix of Portugal in 2019, and was runner-up in the overall Ski GP1 standings the previous year. After a break from racing, he returns for the 2026 season as an Official Rider, stating: “competition has always been part of my life—I miss it tremendously, and I’m particularly drawn to the excitement of aquabike racing”. Maurin added that his goals for the season are “to gradually work my way back up to speed and, most importantly, to enjoy myself”.
Meanwhile the Ski Ladies GP1 ranks are expanding with the inclusion of two new Official Riders: Heloise Delcluze and Emy Garcia. Both made their world championship debuts last year: Delcluze in Olbia and Garcia in Doha. Having come third across the three Motos in Olbia, Delcluze looks set to challenge for the top from the start, adding an extra threat for Estelle Poret to contend with.
As anticipation builds for the new season, the shape of this year’s championship is already coming together, with many Official Riders confirmed and set to be revealed progressively over the coming days.
