What makes Copenhagen the perfect race ground for the 2024 ISA World SUP & Paddleboard Championship?

Aside from cycling, one of the best ways to explore Denmark’s capital is by its incredible and scenic waterways.

Copenhagen’s chilled city vibe reflects its calm coastline, where the surrounding sea flows into a pristine network of clean canals as you head into the city centre—sounds like a SUP or paddleboarder’s dream, right? The combination of still, open blue spaces and its healthy and sustainable approach to living lends itself perfectly to hosting such a prestigious event celebrating the sport.

Copenhagen welcomes the global SUP and paddleboarding community

From 16th to 22nd September 2024, during 5 days of competition, the city welcomed more than 180 of the world’s best SUP and prone athletes, representing 40 national teams, all with the ultimate goal of achieving World Title victory.

The Championship kicked off with an epic opening ceremony, with the teams marching through Copenhagen’s iconic scenery in the Parade of Nations, flying their country’s flags. 2024 was an especially exciting year for some teams, with Latvia, Lebanon, Norway, Scotland, Senegal, Slovakia, South Korea, and Thailand represented for the first time in the parade.

From the beach to the city

This year, the event made the most of the city’s offerings, taking place across two venues: one located at Amager Strandpark on the beach and the other in the city at Søren Kierkegaards Plads.

The competition had seven medal-awarding disciplines and four separate race courses:

• The Technical Race
• The Distance Race
• The Sprint Race
• The Team Relay Race

As the official partner of The ISA World SUP and Paddle Championships 2024 (WSUPPC) in Copenhagen, hosted by the International Surf Association (ISA) and Surf & SUP Denmark, we were proud to support and attend the event all week. We also kept Teams USA, GB, Denmark, and Germany warm with either customised dryrobe® Advance changing robes and Towel robes at the event.

Technical Race - Day 1 & 2

The action kicked off at Amager Strandpark in Tuesday 17th for the first race of the event, The Technical Race.

Athletes' technique and agility were tested on a three-kilometre course in the open ocean that compromised of a total of 19 buoy turns over three course laps. The course also required beach runs, where competitors ran around a flag on land with their board in tow.

Prone paddleboarders and SUP athletes competed in separate races, divided into Men’s and Women’s divisions, as well as a Boys' Junior SUP and Girls' Junior SUP division.

The second day saw fierce competition in the finals. In the Junior SUP races, Hungary won their first ISA Gold Medal since 2018 with the victory of Csillag-Virag Kocsis in the Girls Junior event. A lead pack took off early in Boys Junior race, with Kotaro Miyahira from Japan extending into first place during the second lap.

First place frequently alternated in the Women’s Paddleboard final, with four athletes battling it out in the lead pack. However, it was Spain’s Judit Verges who ended up taking the crown and successfully defending her World Champion status for a third consecutive year.

It was an epic race for recent Molokai 2 Oahu competitor, Andrew Byatt in the Men’s Paddleboard final as he finally added a gold medal to his collection of five ISA medals, including 2 silver medals from the 2023 Championship. He was blown away by his achievement, exclaiming “ I can’t believe it. Team England Surfing, we’ve got gold in the Open. Can you believe it?” He shared an inspiring message to encourage others to go for their dreams, saying, “...to my kid’s Georgia and Luke - never give up. If you set your mind to something, you can do it, and that’s one thing I really wanted to say… And then the other thing is if you’re from England, you can do it. We can train hard just as hard as anyone. If you sort your emotional side to psychological side of fitness, you can do it. And that shows doesn’t it? I’m not young and I did it.”

In the SUP races, Japan’s Rai Taguchi put in the work and took the glory in the Men’s race, despite a couple of falls during the course. Spain’s Duna Gordillo in the Women’s category claimed the World Title after an intense race with teammate Esperanza Barreras and Puerto Rica’s Mariecarmen Rivera.

It was an emotional watch when 55 year old Scottish paddleboarder Dean Dunbar took to the water in the Paddleboard Technical Race. Despite being declared blind at 27, Dunbar completed the race without any additonal help. He received a giant applause across the beach after excelling in the event.

Technical Race results

Boy’s Junior SUP
Gold – Kotaro Miyahira (JPN)
Silver – Lluis Peroti (ESP)
Bronze – Vaic Garioud (FRA)
Copper – Nicolo Ricco (ITA)

Girl’s Junior SUP
Gold – Csillag-Virag Kocsis (HUN)
Silver – Alexia Soto (ESP)
Bronze – Soryn Preston (USA)
Copper – Cecilia Pampinella (ITA)

Men’s Paddleboard
Gold – Andrew Byatt (ENG)
Silver – Baptiste Cochard (FRA)
Bronze – Carlos Alonso (ESP)
Copper – Oisin McGrath (IRL)

Women’s Paddleboard
Gold – Judit Verges (ESP)
Silver – Elise Daudignon (FRA)
Bronze – Cornelia Rigatti (ITA)
Copper – Yurika Horibe (JPN)

Men’s SUP
Gold – Rai Taguchi (JPN)
Silver – Aaron Sanchez (ESP)
Bronze – Riccardo Rossi (ITA)
Copper – Clément Colmas (FRA)

Women’s SUP
Gold – Duna Gordillo (ESP)
Silver – Esperanza Barreras (ESP)
Bronze – Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR)
Copper – Anais Guyomarch (FRA)

Team Relay - Day 3

The excitement at Amager Strandpark continued into Day Three with the highly anticipated Team Relay.

The relay teams consisted of four SUP and prone athletes who took turns completing the ‘M'-shaped course created by three buoy turns.

The race began with the prone men completing one lap, followed by the women's SUP athletes, then the women’s prone paddlers, and finally, the men’s SUP athletes.

The day consisted of two semi final heats of 15 competing nations and one final, in which Brazil, England, France, Italy, Japan, Puerto Rico, Spain, and the USA pulled out all the stops to go for the World Champion title. Japan dominated the final, and took gold after securing first position from the start of the race, cementing their dominance stronger in each lap and with each athlete.

A last minute podium position for Team USA took the team by surprise as they were awarded the copper medal due to penalties. The team’s excitement and pride was contagious, 19 year old Campbell Carter said “I’m super happy we ended up medaling in the relay. It definitely was a fight out there but I’m so glad to be weating this medal right now.’

When asked about race highlights,15 year old Soryn Preston who previously won Bronze i the day before in the Girl’s Junior SUP expressed her admiration for her team, saying “ For me it was watching Campbell coming to the finish. He had a battle with the team behind him I don’t know who, but he definitely pulled through at the end and got us that fifth place , but then obviously we for fourth!”

Campbell shared the same team sentiment, saying “The entire thing for me since I was the anchor this year. Being the last person to go, you see everyone go and then you’re like, alright, it’s go time! Gotta hold my position. It’s honestly super fun watching everyone and then being able to cheer them on and then you’re the last person to go and you just gotta tie it all in and bring everyone home and bring home the medal .”

It was an extra special day at the event as one of the most celebrated champions in SUP history, Denmark’s six-time ISA World Champion Casper Steinfath, completed his final official ISA WSUPPC race as part of his country’s relay team.

Team Relay Results
Gold – Japan
Silver – Spain
Bronze – France
Copper – USA

Long Distance Race - Day 4

Day four was epic in every sense, starting with the mass participation SUP event on Saturday morning.

The venue relocated from the beach to the city venue at Søren Kierkegaards Plads during the lay day before. With the weekend in motion and the vibes high, the area was buzzing with activity.

The mass SUP event encouraged paddlers of all ages and abilities to explore the beautiful city of Copenhagen from the water. Almost 500 people took part in this incredible event, which allowed participants to experience parts of the Long-Distance course, depending on which distance they chose. Experiences ranged from two to five and nine kilometres.

We loved the fun vibes throughout the morning, with spectators watching paddleboarders embracing the water. The positive energy was enhanced by upbeat live music from musicians situated on boats near the finish line. And not forgetting the happy go lucky dogs who also enjoyed some time on the water as their paddleboarding owners took them for a tour of the canals!

With the sun shining, the fight for world champion glory was back on by the afternoon, with the Long Distance Race in SUP and prone paddleboard. Athletes in each division were required to paddle three laps of the four kilometre course around the stunning Copenhagen waterways, to complete the 13 kilometre race.

It was a phenomenal day for Team England who scored a double win in the prone events.

The Women’s Prone went down in an nail biting finish, with the top four athletes finishing incredibly close to one anther, resulting in Japan’s Yurika Horbe and Spain’s Judit Verges sharing a silver medal.

England’s Molly Roodhouse demonstarted incredible perseverance as she “went wrong” during the race but still managed to steal first position. A standout moment for Molly, “I would probably say turning that last corner.. I have to highlight the fact that I went wrong again haha But after all of that, coming around that last corner and just being in line with two world champs, it felt pretty good to hash it out.’ With such a tight finish, she explained “Having seen Andy do the Tecnical and win gold, that was a pretty big motivation. And I think all of the talk about the possibility of winning, gets you riled up for it but you don’t really know what’s going to happen. And it was on the line, it could have been anyone’s game. So I’m chuffed to have got it on the line.”

It was a second gold for England’s Andrew Byatt in the Men’s Prone event, the race had aslo been tight until the final metres where Byatt pulled ahead to secure his world champ title. The win came as shock to Andy who said “There was a big motivation with the kids and family. It’s weird, people always say the easiest races are the ones you win, not the ones you don’t win. And it was a bit like that today, just something all came together. There were moments that were very tough, but everything else, I don’t know what happened.”

Esperanza Barreras from Team Spain achieved her fifth World Title in the Women’s SUP, having won the race three times since entering the event in 2019. Barreras and Mariecarmen Rivera from Puerto Rico lead the final, with Barreras holding tight to first position at the finish line.

In the Men’s SUP race, Team Japan’s Rai Taguchi won his third gold medal of the Championship, after making a six second gap between first place and second place in the final kilometre of the race.

Distance Race results

Women’s Paddleboard
Gold – Molly Roodhouse (ENG)
Silver – Yurika Horibe (JPN)
Silver – Judit Verges (ESP)
Copper – Cornelia Rigatti (ITA)

Men’s Paddleboard
Gold – Andrew Byatt (ENG)
Silver – David Buil (ESP)
Bronze – Donald Miralle (USA)
Copper – Oisin McGrath (IRL)

Women’s SUP
Gold – Esperanza Barreras (ESP)
Silver – Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR)
Bronze – Duna Gordillo (ESP)
Copper – Rika Okuaki (JPN)

Men’s SUP
Gold – Rai Taguchi (JPN)
Silver – Clément Colmas (FRA)
Bronze – Kotaro Miyahira (JPN)
Copper – Ethan Bry (FRA)

Sprint (SUP) Race - Day 5

The fifth and final day required a need for speed as the championship wrapped up at Søren Kierkegaards Plads with the explosive SUP Sprint Races.

Each heat had a maximum of four athletes per race. Competitors completed a 200 metres race course with a technical buoy turn at 100 metres that directed them back to the finish line.

After starting with eight heats in the Men’s division and six in the Women’s, competitors were eventually whittled down to the top four in each catergory, ready for the finals.

Going for gold in the Men’s final was Denmark’s Christian ‘Polar Bear’ Andersen, France’s defending champion Noic Garioud, Brazil’s David Leão and Spain’s Manuel Hoyuela. Leão lead the race and retained first position achieving his first World Title.

The women’s final was fierce with defending French World Champion Mélanie Lafenetre eager to hold onto her title and and two-time SUP Sprint medalists Mariecarmen Rivera from Puerto Rico and Junior champion Cecilia Pampinella from Italy hungry to gain the Gold Medal. However, it was Team Spain’s Alba Frey that earned the crown with a splash to celebrate, as her team jumped into the water to congratulate her win!

An exciting para SUP demonstration topped off the day, which showed what is possible in the sport when it comes to racing. We were stoked to see this and hope to see these races feature in the future!

For the final medal ceremony, Spain was rewarded its first-ever ISA Team Gold Medal and earned the title of the winning team of the 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship.

Sprint Race results

Women’s SUP
Gold – Alba Frey (ESP)
Silver – Cecilia Pampinella (ITA)
Bronze – Melanie Lafenetre (FRA)
Copper – Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR)

Men’s SUP
Gold – David Leão (BRA)
Silver – Manuel Hoyuela (ESP)
Bronze – Noic Garioud (FRA)
Copper – Christian Andersen (DEN)

Team medal results
Gold – Spain
Silver – Japan
Bronze – France
Copper – Italy

All ISA WSUPPC race results can be found here.

Congratulations to everyone who competed at the 2024 WSUPPC and thank you to those who made the event possible. It was an amazing atmosphere all weekend and we are so proud to be part of it.

Follow ISA SUP

isasurf.org
Instagram: @isasupok

#dryrobeterritory

Published on September 27, 2024