Casper Steinfath just made official what we suspected and frankly seen coming for a little while: Casper is saying good-bye to professional SUP Racing. (At least for now)
As for so many of us the pandemic changed some things around we have not seen Casper racing in quite a while. Instead he crossed the Kattegat, that is the ocean between Denmark and Sweden, on a SUP Foil. Then we just had the next big adventure when Casper circumnavigated the entire country of Denmark by SUP and foot. (Denmark is a peninsula) Not much later he hosted his annual Mid-Summer 24 hour Viking SUP Race. Then he appeared on the racers list for the APP US OPEN in Santa Monica. For insiders it was pretty much clear that Casper would not be in position to paddle a good result after having done such an enormous SUP adventure. Not seeing him in Santa Monica was not a surprise and with that Casper is leaving on a high note as he is the APP World Champion of a pre-pandemic SUP Race World. (2019)
Caspers’ career is a long lasting one and started in our memory when he first started to show up on Maui during the early days of downwind SUP Racing ca. 2011. Casper was a regular at the Turtle Bay APP SUP World Championships and his career reaches pretty much as far back as Connor Baxters, Danny Ching, Kai Lenny, Candice Appleby and so many others. Casper did not miss any of the PPGs or any of the other big SUP Races from that era.
This is his official statement:
Hey Everyone. It’s been a crazy few months We are only just halfway into 2022, and I honestly feel I’ve already had enough adventure and action to last me years!!
I just wanted to give you all a short update, as I’ve received quite a few messages asking why I was not in California for the APP World Tour, or present at the Danish Championship last week trying to hold off Christian Andersen / Polar Bear and all the other Danish young guns. As much as I love SUP racing, I have also learned that there is much more in life than chasing the next podium or race. After finishing The Great Danish Paddle a month ago I felt super depleted emotionally and physically. I’m still not sure how, but thanks to a strong team of friends and volunteers around me, we also very shortly after somehow managed to pull off the Red Bull Midsummer Vikings in Copenhagen with 400 happy faces and 82 teams on the water!! And I guess now I’m feeling the blues and fatigue kick in…
For the past 10+ years it’s more or less been a constant high speed chase from one SUP event to another, and somehow fitting in video projects, and big adventures outside the realm of competition. It’s been one hell of a ride, and I definitely don’t think it’s over yet. But it’s time for a little break to charge some batteries – And that’s what I’m doing now .
I look forward to paddling in a few fun events around Europe this summer, but what I really am excited for right now is just being at home with my fiancĂ©, family, and friends in Klitmøller just playing on the water – Cause that’s where it all started. I’m getting married in August and I can’t wait to experience this new chapter and be fully present for it!
I guess I’m living and playing as much as possible these days, and then I’ll see where everything stands when we get to the other side of summer.
Cheers and hope you all have a magical summer on the water and with the people that you love
/Casper
We did some digging in our archive and found 2 great videos where we had one of our first interactions with Casper.
Check this out:
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Just to make clear, we by all means do not believe that this will be the last we heard out of Caspers’ corner. For sure the Viking will be thinking of some crazy adventure in the future. We are also looking forward to next years Mid-Summer-Vikings.
In the meanwhile congratulations to all the achievements.