We are all looking forward to see some of the best athletes going to Santa Monica for the return of the APP Tour and a major price purse of 25K. Off course we all were very curios to see who will be coming to the US interrupting a busy European SUP Summer. More so we are stoked to just have received the full list of athletes from the APP. There are 21 men and 10 women in the elite field and we have picked out some names we think have a chance to go home with quite a bit of money after this event.
Men by seed
#1 Casper Steinfath: Pre-pandemic APP Champion. No races in the recent months but major SUP circumnavigation of Denmark (watch interview here) and this weekend 24hrs Viking Mid Summer Paddling. We are curios to see how he will do in Santa Monica.
#2 Arthur Arutkin: TBA board transport problems. Last race: 7. longdistance (LD) World SUP Festival
#3 Michael Booth: Big contender for Longdistance victory. Last race: 2. LD World SUP Festival, winning LD at the Carolina Cup.
#4 Connor Baxter: Big contender sprint and Tech. Race: Last race 1st Tech. Sprint Carolina Cup and 5. LD Carolina Cup
#5 Itzel Delgado: Last notable race was Carolina Cup with a 6. place LD. We know he can put the hammer down in a sprint race.
#6 Christian Anderson: Has not been seen on a major race in a while so we are looking forward to see him on the international stage. He is still battling with board shipments so not sure yet 100% if he is makeing it.
#7 Danny Ching: Big competitor to Michael Booth, last race was Carolina Cup LD 2. place to Boothy only 5 seconds behind
#8 Daniel Hasulyo: LD Carolina Cup 8. place and 9. LD World SUP Festival. He will have to hustle for the big money.
The young guns:
#10 Shuri “Shrimpy” Araki”: Watch out for this young talent. He was 5. in the LD in Alicante and 3. LD at the Carolina Cup only 8 seconds behind Danny Ching and 13 seconds behind Boothy. That kid is dangerous.
#17 Bode von Allmen: Talent from Hoodriver with a 9. place LD at the Carolina Cup and a strong entry at the ICF World Championships last year.
Ladies by seed
#1 April Zilg: This woman is mad strong and looking for a big victory. She won the LD at the Carolina Cup, but has not raced in the Euro Zone this season.
#2 Esperanza Barreras: She is the big contender to steal the show from April. Espe has not raced against April since the ICF Balaton where she was clearly faster in the LD. This is the battle to look for.
#3 Stephanie Shideler: Longtime SUP racer from the PPG days with a 4. place at the Carolina Cup, but with a pretty clear margin on the top 3
#4 Giannisa Vecco: Dark Horse status from Peru
#5 Candice Appleby: Great to see her back on the APP, last race was Carolina Cup with a 3. place in LD but a clear margin to April with almost a minute. Can she make the podium in Santa Monica? We think so.
#6 Jade Howson: Young gun status as a strong junior paddler during the PPG days. Looks like her first race of the season.
Dark Horse status: Lena Ribeiro, Juliette DuHaime, Abby Baker, Juliana Gonzalez.
Sadly we are also missing some names like Fiona Wylde who is out with a shoulder injury and of course the two “Kagu” Noic and Titou. Off course there are many more and we are sure some time this season we will witness some epic SUP battles out on the water.
Full list per the APP
Men
| Seed | Firstname | Lastname | Nation |
| 1 | Casper | Steinfath | DK |
| 2 | Arthur | Arutkin | FRA |
| 3 | Michael | Booth | AUS |
| 4 | Connor | Baxter | HI |
| 5 | Itzel | Delgado | PER |
| 6 | Christian | Andersen | DK |
| 7 | Danny | Ching | USA |
| 8 | Daniel | Hasulyo | HUN |
| 9 | David | Leao | BRA |
| 10 | Shuri | Araki | JPN |
| 11 | Manuel Rojas | Hoyuela | ESP |
| 12 | Tomasso | Pampinella | ITA |
| 13 | Mo | Freitas | HI |
| 14 | Dan | Miller | USA |
| 15 | Eri | Tenorio | BRA |
| 16 | Tim | Oliver | |
| 17 | Bodie | Von Allmen | USA |
| 18 | Campbell | Carter | USA |
| 19 | Rylan | Hart | USA |
| 20 | Franco | Faccin | ARG |
| 21 | Bernd | Roediger | HI |
Women
| Place | Firstname | Lastname | Nation |
| 1 | April | Zilg | USA |
| 2 | Espe | Barreras | ESP |
| 3 | Stephanie | Shideler | USA |
| 4 | Giannisa | Vecco | PER |
| 5 | Candice | Appleby | USA |
| 6 | Jade | Howson | USA |
| 7 | Lena | Ribeiro | BRA |
| 8 | Juliette | DuHaime | ARG |
| 9 | Abby | Baker | USA |
| 10 | Juliana | Gonzalez | ARG |