Next Saturday, 19 September, the Ciutat de Palma Trophy returns, and the third edition of the Paddle Games in Palma promises to be our biggest and most exciting yet.

Once again, we will race in one of the most spectacular settings imaginable. In the heart of Palma, with the Cathedral rising behind the course and the city watching from the waterfront, some of the world’s best paddlers will compete in an afternoon of fast, intense and unpredictable racing.

When we started Paddle Games three years ago, the idea was simple: bring paddling to where the people are and create a different way to experience our sport.

Since then, every edition has been an opportunity to experiment, learn and evolve. We have kept the things that people loved, changed things that we thought could be better, and continued asking ourselves the same question: how can we make paddling more exciting for athletes, spectators and people discovering our sport for the first time?

This year, we are taking another big step forward.

For the first time in Palma, canoe racing joins the Paddle Games. Olympic medallists, world champions and some of the world’s leading canoe athletes will race directly in front of Palma Cathedral in a new elimination format designed to create fast racing, pressure and plenty of unpredictability.

And that is only part of what is coming.

The Mixed K2 will return, bringing another dimension to the Team competition. The Fantasy Race will once again give young paddlers the opportunity to race with their heroes. We will continue experimenting with sport presentation and technology, looking for new ways to bring people closer to the athletes, the speed and the drama of racing.

There will also be more opportunities to become part of the Elite competition.

This year we are expanding the pathway from the Open Category into the Elite racing. More athletes competing in the Open races will earn the opportunity to step up, join our Elite Teams and suddenly find themselves racing alongside — and against — Olympic medallists, world champions and some of the best paddlers in the world.

That possibility is something I particularly love about Paddle Games. You can arrive in Palma to race the Open Category and, a few hours later, find yourself wearing the colours of an Elite Team and lining up against one of the athletes you normally watch competing at the Olympic Games or World Championships.

That is what we want this event to be about: bringing the best athletes closer to the people, creating opportunities, and making our sport exciting, accessible and unpredictable.

None of this would be possible without an extraordinary group of people and organisations who continue to believe in what Paddle Games can become.

A huge thank you must go to the Real Club Náutico de Palma, who not only host and organise the Ciutat de Palma Trophy but have believed in this project from the beginning. Their willingness to embrace new ideas, solve problems and keep pushing the event forward has been incredible. Paddle Games in Palma simply would not exist without them.

The same is true of NELO Kayaks, whose support goes far beyond providing boats. From equipment and logistics to helping us find solutions behind the scenes, they have supported the project from the very beginning and have continued to grow with us as the ambition of Paddle Games has grown.

We are also incredibly grateful to all the partners and sponsors who make the event possible, and to IB3, whose support is fundamental in taking the racing beyond the waterfront in Palma. The event will be broadcast across the Balearic Islands and shared online, allowing people around the world to experience the atmosphere, the racing and the spectacle of Paddle Games.

Three editions in, and the event keeps growing.

And that is exactly how we want it.

Every Paddle Games should be better than the one before it. Every edition should introduce something new. And every race should help us get a little closer to our ambition of showing just how exciting paddling can be.

Next Saturday, the boats will line up again beneath Palma Cathedral.

More athletes. More opportunities. Canoe racing for the first time. Mixed K2. New formats. New ideas. World-class paddlers.

And one spectacular city-centre racecourse.

Palma, get ready. The most exciting paddling race is back, and it will be bigger than ever.