What a weekend! By most measures (every measure except for DQs and beach starts, perhaps), the ICF SUP World Championships in Sarasota, Florida was a success. 2024 has been a pretty good year for world championships, and with most (not all) top names attending both the ISA and ICF events, it looks like SUP racing as a sport may be able to continue sustaining two world champs per year. Several of the top athletes commented on just how high the level of racing was in Sarasota. In the words of Jake Portwood: “I haven’t paddled in a field that stacked since Battle of The Paddles 2011! [It] felt like competing in the Olympics.”

Despite a slow start to race entries, the ICF World Championships in Sarasota, Florida ended up with over 500 competitors. That was lower than the 900 entries at 2023 ICF Worlds in Pattaya Thailand; but entries were more than double the numbers at 2024 ISA worlds in Denmark. Having the two events nine weeks apart seemed to give fans and athletes enough of a break to keep things interesting. Shortening the sprint distance from 200m to 100m in Florida made for more racing, faster; plus some blisteringly fast new records.

There was way too much action in Sarasota to summarize it all here, so we’ll stick to three of the most newsworthy items: the new sprint records set for 100m, the drama of the technical racing (or at least the biggest drama), and the rising stars for you to follow from here…

New Sprint Records

With the new 100m sprint distance, we have not just new world champions but new records. Conditions at Nathan Benderson Park started fairly calm for the heats, but the wind kicked up enough for the semifinals and heats to potentially affect results. How long will the new records stand before they’re broken?

NOTE: This section has been updated to clarify the record times versus the winning times in the A Finals. Conditions changed on the course throughout the racing, and paddlers faced significant headwinds at various points. For the Masters categories, the record times were during the heats in some cases by paddlers who did not ultimately win their A Final. Ryohei Yoshida from Japan set a fastest time during the heats for Masters 40+ Men, and won his A Final.

RECORD TIMES: The fastest times in the world by SUP over 100m on a flat course

Category	100m Time	SUP Racer	National Federation	Race
Open Men	23.05	Andrey Kraytor (Andrii Kraitor)	Bulgaria	A Final
Open Women	28.32	Katniss Paris	United States	A Final
Junior Men	24.22	Matei Barbu	Romania	A Final
Junior Women	30.92	Cecilia Pampinella	Italy	A Final
Masters 40+ Men	27.46	Ryohei Yoshida	Japan	Heat 2
Masters 40+ Women	34.03	Edith Turcotte	Canada	Heat 3
Masters 50+ Men	28.34	Packet Casey	United States	Heat 7
Masters 50+ Women	35.37	Penny Tsaotou	Greece	Heat 4

WINNING TIMES: The times set by 100m A Final winners; For Open and Juniors, these are the same as the records

Category	100m Time	SUP Racer	National Federation	Race
Open Men	23.05	Andrey Kraytor (Andrii Kraitor)	Bulgaria	A Final
Open Women	28.32	Katniss Paris	United States	A Final
Junior Men	24.22	Matei Barbu	Romania	A Final
Junior Women	30.92	Cecilia Pampinella	Italy	A Final
Masters 40+ Men	27.49	Ryohei Yoshida	Japan	A Final
Masters 40+ Women	34.94	Giannisa Vecco	Italy	A Final
Masters 50+ Men	28.69	Peter Weidert	Germany	A Final
Masters 50+ Women	35.81	Anna Little	Great Britain	A Final

Andrey Kraytor joins an elite club of athletes who’ve crossed over from other paddlesports to the top of SUP racing. Kraytor has been racing at a world championship level for more than a decade, but those early years were in high kneel canoeing. He earned an impressive number of medals in the Junior & Under 23 age category through 2015. Now in SUP, he’s followed in the footsteps of former high kneel racers like Larry Cain who frequently remind us what perfect mechanics look like, whether in a boat or board. That elite club of crossover paddlesport athletes got a few new additions in Sarasota who could be rising stars in SUP… 

Team Italy shined in the junior women’s sprints category with gold, bronze, and 8th for Cecilia Pampinella, Claudia Postiglione, and Sveva Sabato. But it was the USA’s open women who had the most dominant performance in the sprints. Four of the eight spots in the A Final went to Americans. Katniss Paris (USA), a rising star, had the best performance of her SUP career with her “surprise of the day” win. Before the racing started, Katniss said: “It really hasn’t sunk in yet, that I’ve made it to the top… I still see myself mostly as a green paddler with so much left to learn.” Katniss managed to edge out Seychelle for the win by just 0.38 seconds. It was the first disappointment of a challenging weekend for Seychelle who was a gold medal favorite but ended with a silver in sprints, disqualification (DQ) in the technical, and 5th place in long distance. In her own words: “What a plot twist”. With that – let’s move onto the drama.

The Drama

Technical racing is designed for drama, and drama it delivered. The course had precisely enough zig-zagging buoy turns to bring the excitement that was missing from racing on a lake sans waves. At least one racer fell off their board in almost every technical race, but there were a few key buoy turns that turned out to be more pivotal (pun intended). The most titillating of them all? The first buoy turn in the open women’s technical final: Seychelle’s DQ.

After clean progressions from her heat, quarterfinal, and semifinal, Seychelle lined up in Lane 7 (the inside “lane” relative to the first buoy turn) to start Final A. Eight of the fastest women in the world shot off the line together. Mariecarmen Rivera (Puerto Rico) took the lead: starting in an outside lane (Lane 4), she started angling in just a few meters before the first buoy. Seychelle held second place in the inside position, with Juliette Duhaime (Argentina) on her tail. As the nose of Mariecarmen’s board reached the buoy, she stepped back to start her turn. And then it happens: Seychelle’s board slides between Mariecarmen’s calves, crosses her board, and Mariecarmen is in the water. In an instant, Mariecarmen’s first place is gone: she’s left swimming toward her board as it floats away from the pack. Seychelle went down to her knees, completed the turn, and recovered quickly.

The first buoy turn didn’t go perfectly for the rest of the field either – Espe Barreras (Spain) and Alba Alonso Frey (Spain) both got caught on the outside of Juliette Duhaime, and all three of them took a wide turn. It was Duna Gordillo (Spain) who was in 6th place coming into the turn who came out of it the fastest. As soon as she saw the mess ahead of her, she took what looked like a quick backwards stroke before immediately finding an opening and shooting through it like the pro she is. Once she took the lead, she wouldn’t give it up. Although Seychelle finished in second position, her disqualification meant the silver medal went to Espe and the bronze to Rika Okuaki (Japan). Rika took the same tack as Duna on that first buoy: hanging back seemed to pay off.

Was Seychelle’s DQ deserved? Was Mariecarmen robbed? Seychelle protested the DQ unsuccessfully, and paddling fans have hotly debated the question in the comments section. The official rules don’t give detailed guidance on how racers should turn, but do make it clear that racers who are responsible for collisions that disadvantage other athletes unnecessarily may be penalised with a time penalty (caused another racer a minor disadvantage) or disqualification (caused a major disadvantage):

– Inadvertent contact between boards should be avoided

– It is the duty of the overtaking board to keep clear of other board at all times until the other board is overtaken (overtaken is defined by being completely clear of the other board)

– Any athlete who is considered by a Course Umpire(s) or Race Director to have been responsible for a collision, or who damages the board or paddle of another athlete or unnecessarily deviates from the direct racing line or deliberately blocks or impedes the path of other athlete(s) may be penalised or disqualified.

-> If it is considered that the athlete(s) have only had some minor disadvantage/s compared to other athletes as a result of the incident the responsible athlete will receive a time penalty of 10 seconds.

-> If it is considered that the incident has caused other paddlers a major disadvantage the penalty will be disqualification (DSQ) of the offending athlete.

As the rules stand now, it leaves room for interpretation by race officials. Some have called for the rules to be revisited. At least Mariecarmen was able to end the competition on a high note: she staged an impressive comeback for the long distance racing where she earned a silver medal.

The best news for SUP fans though? The ICF has made the open women’s technical final free to watch on the Planet Canoe YouTube channel. If you’re going to watch one race from the weekend, make it this one. You might even find yourself getting a cardio workout from the heart-pumping action. Watch it on repeat to make your own judgment about the DQ.

New Champions & Rising Stars

Another World Championships, another set of rising stars in SUP. Many of the weekend’s winners and top finishers were familiar names. On the men’s side, these included: Noic Garioud, Shuri Araki, Andrey Kraytor, Rai Taguchi, Christian Andersen, Aaron Sanchez, Eri Tenorio, Ethan Bry, and more. On the women’s side: Espe Barreras, Duna Gordillo, Seychelle, Mariecarmen Rivera, Juliette Duhaime, Alba Alonso Frey, and more. Each of these athletes delivered what we expected: the highest level of athletic and technical performances in the sport.

But amongst the usual names are a few rising stars who had stand-out performances in Sarasota. Some of these racers are newer to elite SUP racing and showing exceptional promise, others have been around for a couple of years but seem to be peaking this season. They all have bright futures ahead…

Manuel Hoyuela of Spain has been on the SUP racing scene for a while, but his results in Sarasota are some of his best yet: silver in sprint, bronze in the technical, and fifth in long distance. As athletes start to specialise in each event type, it’s getting harder for a single athlete to podium in multiple classes. Some top names didn’t even enter the sprints in order to focus on the technical and distance races. With an even shorter sprint distance of 100m, Hoyuela’s ability to podium in both the sprint and the longer technical race is incredibly impressive. At age 21, he’s only been racing in the senior class for a few years but has clearly made the difficult junior to senior jump successfully. He’s clearly just at the start of a wildly promising career. In Manu’s words (translated from Spanish): “…I will return home to work. Because yes, I am more excited than ever.”

Vaic Garioud of France/New Caledonia is the “little” brother of Noic Garioud, so everyone knows he has big shoes to fill. At just 18 years old, he competed in the junior category at ISA worlds in Denmark this year but raced in the senior category at ICF worlds. Vaic skipped the sprints, but showed his skills in the technical where he finished 4th (behind brother Noic, Shuri Araki, and Manuel Hoyuela). In long distance, he finished 8th: still behind Noic, but so was almost everyone else. With the support and mentorship of his SUP star brother, it’s easy to see that Vaic will go far.

Katniss Paris (USA) earned the comment “surprise of the day” when she won the 100m sprint ahead of Seychelle, the favourite and 2023 sprint world champ in Pattaya, and Alba Alonso Frey who finished ahead of Katniss at the recent Agios Nikolaos World Cup where Alonso Frey won all three events (long-distance, technical and sprint). Katniss is relatively new to SUP, and at age 31 is reminding adult paddlers that you don’t have to start racing as a junior to reach the top. She’s been documenting her intense training in the gym and on the water on social media, and was thrilled with her sprint win, saying: “Dream Accomplished.”

Just a few weeks before the ICF Worlds, Katniss announced that she’s picked up another paddlesport: high kneel canoeing (C1). Larry Cain, Andrey Kraytor, and of course Jimmy Terrell of Quickblade have shown that going from high kneeling to SUP can take you to the top. Will adding C1 to her repertoire help Katniss with her SUP racing, or will she start racing in C1 (an Olympic sport)? So far, she says: “I have waited a very long time for this opportunity and I am VERY excited! I have always found these two sports compliment each other very well. It’s well known that paddling more than one type of craft is extremely beneficial.”

Speaking of cross-disciplinary paddlers, outrigger world champion Iloha Eychenne (France) rocked up to the Sarasota SUP world championships as one of her first SUP races and shocked (almost) everyone when she spent much of the long distance race in the lead without drafting. Anyone familiar with Iloha’s domination of va’a (outrigger canoeing) for the last few years was far less shocked. Iloha is easily the fastest woman in the world in va’a across both long distance and sprint. In the single canoe (V1), it’s not unusual for her to win races by miles. At the 2023 IVF Distance World Championships, she won by more than seven minutes. In June this year, she won the Te Aito (the premier V1 distance race in the world) by more than eight minutes. Even over 500 meters at the IVF Sprint World Championships this year, she won by a decisive four seconds. She’s not limited herself to just va’a and SUP though: Iloha has been dabbling in surfski as well, and recently won the French title in solo surfski. For Iloha to finish sixth in the world having barely spent time on a SUP, and without joining the draft train… If she keeps up the SUP, get ready to see her start winning.

There were so many phenomenal performances by tenured and fresh athletes alike, let’s give a few more shout-outs to these high potential athletes:

Csillag Kocsis (Hungary) raced brilliantly at the ISA worlds in Denmark this year, and won both the technical and long distance races in Florida. She finished 5th in the sprints. The junior women’s category is full of strong racers, and Csillag is one of the best.

Natsumi Baba (Japan) hasn’t been racing SUP for very long, but she finished 6th in the dramatic open women’s technical final and 14th in the long distance. For her first World Championship debut, it’s an impressive start.

It was also a SUP worlds debut for Kaitlyn McElroy (USA), but Kaitlyn has been racing on the world stage for a long time – in kayaks. She’s another cross-disciplinary paddler looking to translate K1 skills to SUP. McElroy made the A Final in sprints (she finished 25th in long distance), which is impressive for anyone’s first SUP world championships but even more impressive considering that she’s in her last year before Masters eligibility and gave birth to her son 15 months ago. As soon as she’s eligible, Kait will be a shoo-in to win the 40+ Masters women category for sprints.

Nariakira Shimazu (Japan) is another cross-disciplinary paddler at the top of his game. He’s been racing SUP for a couple of years and won a silver medal at the ISA worlds in 2022 (technical) plus silver and bronze in Pattaya last year (distance and technical), but he also raced K4 (four person kayak) at the ICF junior and U23 canoe sprint World Championships. Finally, in Sarasota, he achieved his goal of becoming a World Champion. In the junior boys races, Nari earned gold in the technical and silver in the long distance. Reflecting on his experience, Nari wrote that he had been worried about trying to perform at the highest level in both kayaking and SUP this year. But doing both sports ended up paying off for him: “All the things I was conscious of for canoeing also applied to SUP. Recalling SUP and applying the techniques I’d developed in canoeing, I realized that as time passed, I was able to go faster than I was last year. I was using all parts of my body in the paddling motion, the sensations were spreading throughout my whole body, my real-time paddling was flowing objectively in my head, the places I was catching were visible, and I could see at a glance the course I should paddle.” (translated from the original Japanese using Google Translate).

South African Cameron Tripney is another one to watch after he won a bronze medal in sprint for the junior men. South Africa is a paddling powerhouse in surfski and marathon kayak, but SUP isn’t thriving in the same way (yet). Tripney was one of just three South Africans at the ICF World Champs. But if he keeps up such a high level of performance, perhaps the future holds a different story for SUP in SA.