The ICF SUP World Championships are fast approaching, and there’s a lot of curiosity about whether the ICF can surpass the success of last year’s event in Thailand. On August 7th, we took a closer look at the start list to see who has signed up so far. It was the perfect time to reach out to the ICF, specifically to Hoichan Kwon, who has become the face of SUP within the organization. This interview goes beyond Sarasota 2024, offering insight into the ICF’s broader perspective on the future of SUP as a sport.
Aloha Hoichan, It has been a while since we last communicated directly with the ICF, but with the upcoming ICF World Championships in Sarasota this November, it’s great to catch up with you and your organization.
I’m sure you were very busy with the Olympics in Paris. Before we dive into the SUP World Championships, could you tell us a bit about how Paris was? How many athletes from how many countries did the ICF oversee at the Olympics?
Hoichan: Paris was wild. It was a very exciting and busy two weeks. We have two Olympic disciplines, Slalom and Sprint. For Slalom, we had 84 athletes from 32 nations. For Sprint, we had 239 athletes from 47 nations. Our competition venues for both were at the same location, which simplified our work.
Wow, that’s quite a number! You must have been incredibly busy. I’m sure there were many SUP enthusiasts watching on TV, dreaming of being there one day. Do you think that eight years until Brisbane 2032 is enough time to get things sorted out for SUP to have a chance to be part of the Olympics?
I think anything is possible. What’s most important right now is for the sport to continue to grow. I don’t think SUP as a sport has reached its full potential yet. I want to help us grow and become truly a professional sport worthy of being in the Olympics. I’m constantly thinking of ways to improve the format and the presentation. Hopefully, people who have been following our events have noticed and approve of the progress.
Yes 8 years is lots of time, lets hope for it. Now let’s get back to the present and talk about Sarasota 2024. We see that the ICF once again has a very generous prize money offer. If I’m not mistaken, the overall prize purse is $30,000. Could you break down for us how much the winner of each category will be able to take home?
That’s correct. Since we began in 2019, our prize purse has been consistent. We make that a requirement for all organizers, hoping it will help some athletes focus on becoming professional paddlers. I’m not sure of the exact distribution as it will be paid out in USD, but the requirement is €30,000. So, the equivalent of €2,500 for first place, €1,500 for second, and €1,000 for third in all open class races. If you’re an all-around paddler competing in all three disciplines—sprint, technical, and long distance—then you could win quite a lot by our sport’s standards, of course.
That’s really amazing and could make it worthwhile for some of the top paddlers. Speaking of which, we’re still missing some big names. What do you think the elite is waiting for? Maybe we need to emphasize the prize money more? No other event pays out more than the ICF.
Well, you know the culture, haha. I think most of them are still finalizing their travel plans. Getting your board there, figuring out accommodations, and transport are all big factors that aren’t always affordable. Hopefully, we can solve the board issue with our partner offering rental boards. You can check it out on the event website.
One of the things the ICF Worlds are known for is that it’s an event for all ages and skill levels. As of August 22nd, the sprint category is counting 242 participants, making it the largest race of the year. Nevertheless, you mentioned in a recent conversation that the ICF is aiming for 750 or more participants. Do you have data on where you were in terms of sign-ups at the same time last year before Thailand? Are we on track?
I don’t have the exact data. Yes, building on the success of previous editions, we are expecting at least double the number of registrations. Last year, we only opened registrations in June. In the first week, we had over 200 registered, but that slowed down immediately until about two months before the competition. We had so many last-minute registrations last year, it was very difficult to manage the race schedules. Hopefully, that won’t be the case this year. I trust the international paddling community and the local community to sign up soon and make our lives a bit easier. I understand there are a lot of paddlers in Florida. I hope all of them come out in November and show their support for the sport. As you said, our world championship is a celebration of the sport. Paddlers of all levels are most welcome. Don’t be intimidated!
Since we’re talking about demographics and participation numbers, we at Stand Up Magazin are excited for the world’s best to meet in one place. Our sport is in a unique position, and the ICF Worlds highlight that: The events are mostly carried by amateur paddlers. How is this in canoe sports?
Most paddlers in any discipline aren’t full-time paddlers. Even some of the Olympians have day jobs. I think it’s one of the hardest things you can do—working and training at the same time. I have so much respect for them. I want the sport to grow so that paddlers can make a decent living just through the sport. But at the same time, SUP is about inclusion and accessibility. Even if the sport reaches an Olympic level, I want to ensure that it doesn’t become so professional and reliant on expensive, specialized equipment that regular people can’t afford it. Unfortunately, we’re already seeing that trend…
Furthermore, 123 out of the 242 sprint participants are in the 40 and up age group. We have 68 paddlers in the open class and 33 juniors. How does the ICF interpret this mix of ages, and how does it influence decision-making for future events?
It was clear in Pattaya that the masters field is getting very competitive. It makes sense, as they have the means to travel and compete internationally. Again, this sport is about inclusion. I’m happy to see the level of interest from such a wide range of people. This is what the sport is about.
Let’s talk about logistics. Many people will be traveling from far away. Can you tell those who want to come to Florida but don’t want to travel with their boards what the solutions are this year?
As mentioned earlier, our logistics partner, Sports Camps, is offering top-of-the-line racing boards from Starboard, NSP, and Sunova. Please check them out on their website: Sports Camps.
That’s great to hear, so there’s really no excuse not to come to Sarasota.
Moving on to the venue, Nathan Benderson Circle in Florida looks like a great location—very convenient for athletes, spectators, and organizers. Can you talk a bit about the venue?
I visited the venue last year for the World Cup. It’s a sprint course! The downwinders will be disappointed, but the venue offers a lot. It’s a fantastic facility for professional races. The park itself is beautiful and clean, and it’s close to one of the prettiest beaches in the States. Finally, we’ll be using the auto-start system for sprint races. By the way, if you haven’t gotten the message, the sprint course will be 100 meters this year! There will be a lot of exciting photo finishes.
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One area of concern about the venue we’d like to touch on is long-distance racing. Venues like this don’t typically have a 10K race course. We saw what happened in Hungary at the ECA event: The racecourse got quite congested. The SUP community widely agrees that a 45-degree direction change should be the maximum; otherwise, the race morphs into a technical race. Is this venue big enough to (A) allow for a race course like this and (B) ensure that the athletes can spread out enough so that hobby paddlers don’t become obstacles for the elite paddlers?
We ran the long-distance race on this course last year. The turns will be gradual, and there’s enough space, so I’m not concerned about that. The problem is, again, spacing out the age categories. At this point, we don’t have any idea how many people will be in which race times.
Lastly, the ICF surprised the world last year with an impromptu SUP Foil Sprint Race. Can we expect something like this again?
We’d like to argue that if you paddle, it’s a paddle sport. Now that some SUP athletes are adding a device to their boards that allows the board to get disconnected from the water, is it still a paddle sport? How does the ICF make sense of it all?
As you said, if the paddle dictates the sport, then it’s a paddle sport. If you’re using a wing to propel yourself, then obviously not. There’s no question about that. I’ve had chats with the Starboard crew to host foiling again, more properly this year. We want to have proper foil races this year. 100 meters will be very quick for them. In addition to the foil race, we’re in talks with Special Olympics to include some races for them as well. We’re still in discussions, but hopefully, everything will work out, and we can provide a truly inclusive festival.
Thank you very much for your time. We are looking forward to future updates between now and November.
I was a pleasure.
Editors note: Since we had our last update more high profile names in the SUP Race community have signed up for the Event: Duna Gordillo, Mariecarmen Rivera and Alba Frey. Also from Russia Natalia Novitskaia is joining the races. We are still missing quite a few male athletes.