Saturday Tech. Races
The EURO SUP once again did not disappoint with excitement. The swell was running and the athletes had their work cut out. In the girls final Anna Tschriky really impressed with a great performance. She had a bad start and had to catch up with the field from the very back. But after the first round she was able to catch up to the leading Melanie Lafenetre. Anna really improved her wave riding skills as she practiced all week long. Esperanza Barreras came in third after she was not able to fully recover her position from an early fall.
1 | Melanie Lafenetre |
2 | Anna Tschirky |
3 | Esperanza Barreras |
4 | Iona Rivet |
5 | Alba Frey |
6 | Holly Pye |
7 | Angela Fernandez |
8 | Claudia Postiglione |
In the mens race it was Clement Colmas who was able to get another podium with first place for the second time. Not too far behind was Antioni Morillo, but then there was a fight for bronze between Manuel Hoyuela and Christian Andersen. Both of them arrived at the beach almost at the same time. Once again the deciding factor for Christian Andersen was the sprint up the beach and this time he was the faster of the two being able to get the third place.
1 | Clement Colmas |
2 | Antonio Morillo |
3 | Christian Andersen |
4 | Manuel Hoyela |
5 | Vaic Garioud |
6 | Paolo Marconi |
7 | Blue Ewer |
8 | Ben Moreham |
9 | Kjell De Bruyn |
10 | Davide Alpino |
Disclaimer: The results are not official as the ESF has not released official results as of Saturday night. We were writing them down as the live feed progressed.
Wednesday Longdistance
After some weather delay the longdistance race took place in combination with some bigger waves that posed some challenging conditions for the racers. The in and out was kind of crazy and we saw Clement Colmas surfing a solid bump towards victory.
Duna Gordillo set the tone early in the race and claimed the European Title and her second win over Esperanza Barreras this seaon. Swiss Anna Tschirky once again showed what a world class paddler she is.
- Clement Colmas – FRA – 1:07:14.93
- Ethan Bry – FRA – 1:08:26.30
- Aaron Sanchez – ESP – 1:09:06.79
- Christian Andersen – DEN – 1:09:07.56
- Fernando Perez – ESP – 1:09:96.96
- Blue Ewer – ENG – 1:10:50.90
- Kjell De Bruyn – BEL – 1:13:26.93
- Riccardo Rossi – ITA – 1:13:31.03
- Filipe Meira – POR – 1:15:50.35
- Ben Moreham – ENG 1:17:01.53
- Filippo Mercuriali – ITA – 1:17:02.33
- Tomas Gorsup – CZE – 1:20:36.11
- Christopher Jeppesen – DEN – 1:26:37.17
- Bastian Grimm – GER – 1:26:29.03
- Paulo Freitas – POR – 1:27:34.55
- Ondrej Petrak – CZE – 1:28:22.88
- Maui Sach – GER – 1:30:26.81
- Richard Proost – NED – 1:38:48.53
Junior Girls
- Cecilia Pampinella – ITA – 1:26:02.66
- Alexia Soto – ESP – 1:37:16.04
- Julia Risso – FRA – 1:47:05.97
- Josephina Karst – GER – 2:12:58.00
- Ida Djurstrom – SWE – 2:16:26.00
- Duna Gordillo – ESP – 1:19:19.90
- Esperanza Barreras – ESP – 1:20:34.29
- Anna Tschirky – SUI – 1:20:37.66
- Iona Rivet – FRA – 1:20:50.98
- Anai Guyomarch – FRA – 1:23:39.28
- Ginnie Betts – ENG – 1:28:43.51
- Annabel Page – ENG – 1:29:41.77
- Claudia Postiglione – ITA – 1:31:22.54
- Angela Fernandes – POR – 1:37:33.17
- Veronica Silva – POR – 1:38:22.56
- Laura Dal Pont – ITA – 1:42:09.60
- Michelle Kimbler – SWE – 1:43:44.85
Junior Boys
- Vaic Garrioud – FRA – 1:08:34.34
- Nicolo Ricco – ITA – 1:11:39.34
- Joan Garcia – ESP – 1:12:44.00
- Hector Jessel – ENG – 1:16:42.16
- Maximus Sijrier – NED – 1:24:42.51
- Guilherem Faria – POR – 1:28:23.93
- Lucas Boyum – SWE – 1:33:21.98
Monday Sprints
Men final
The sprint races in Portugal this past Monday did not disappoint. It was not the same like the sprints we saw at the Busan Open in Korea but the mens final could not have been more exciting. The favorites in this race were “Polarbear” Christian Andersen and Claudio Nika. But it was not meant to be. Polarbear got beat on the last meters and Claudio Nika came in third.
What happened: On the last stretch Christian Andersen and Claudio Nika shared a wave for a photo finish but then Tomas Lacerda caught up to the same wave from behind. As the three are now approaching the beach Polarbear makes the first dismount and started to run, but Tomas appears to be a really good sprinter. He steps on the gas and over takes Christian in the very last meters before the finish line. He was besides himself crossing the line, claiming the Euorpean SUP Sprint Title.
Tomaso Lacerda coming in from behind. All there guys are now on the same wave as Christian makes a push to paddle upfront, then jumping off the board first .
He was leading when running up the beach but Tomas sprinted really hard and caught up with Christian once they reached the crown. Claudio Nika had not chance catching up.
The excitement on the beach was incredible. We had an unexpected winner.
1 | Tomas Lacerda | POR |
2 | Christian Andersen | DEN |
3 | Claudio Nika | ITA |
4 | Will Keetley | ENG |
Girls Final
The race was on between Duna Gordillo and Melanie Lafenerte. Melanie just coming off a gold medal from the ISA and Duna Gordillo sitting out the sprint / tech race. It was a great final to watch. Both of them were at the buoy first and were in a neck on neck race towards the beach. In fact Duna had a slight lead but Melanie was pushing hard and was able to capitalize on a small wave managing to over take Duna who for some reason was not able to get in front of this wave. Then it was clear: Melanie is not only the ISA World Champion she is also the ESF European Champion.
Behind the two two Cecilia Pampinella and Alba Frey were fighting for bronze which went to Alba Frey.
Duna Gordillo on the NSP was still in the lead, but Melanie really sprinted for that wave and some how there was a bit of a flat spot right by Duna, this allowed Melanie to capitalize on an extra push taking the wave to the beach. Taking gold in sprints for the 2nd time.
1 | Melanie Lafenetre | FRA |
2 | Duna Gordillo | ESP |
3 | Alba Alonso Frey | ESP |
4 | Cecilia Pampinella | ITA |