ISA SUP World Championships Sprint Results and Review

The back drop for the sprint races could not have been better. The 200m course was set up right in front of the spectators. In fact the turning buoy was so close to the spectators that one would have been able to almost grab the nose of the racers board. The racing was fast and punchy, but not always without issues. (see on the bottom)

Ladies Final

We were stoked to see the final of the ladies and how Alba Fray (Alonso) was battling with her competition. Albas finishing time was only beaten once and that by her self with 1:07,425 in the quarter finals. Marie Carmen Rivera was the only other athlete that beat the 1:08 mark with a time of 1:07,559. It was also nice to see how great Cecilia Pampinella did. In fact the entire final was really great and we have seen some of the biggest names on a well deserved podium.

Position	Name	Country	Time	Difference
1	Alba ALONSO	ESP	1:07,965
2	Cecilia PAMPINELLA	ITA	1:09,235	1.27
3	Melanie LAFENETRE	FRA	1:10,099	2.134
4	Mariecarmen RIVERA	PUR	1:10,235	2.27

Mens Final

David Leao paddled his best all day long. He won every heat and was only once a fraction over the one minute mark. Manuel Hoyuela was also very strong but not strong enough in this final to beat David. We are also sure that Noic Garioud was very happy to have made podium this week as in some other races things did not go his way. Christian Andersen also had a fantastic moment paddling himself into the final in front of his home crowd. This must have been a great moment for him.

Position	Name	Nation	Time	Difference
1	David LEÃO	BRA	0:57,950
2	Manuel HOYUELA	ESP	0:59,154	1.204
3	Noic GARIOUD	FRA	1:01,310	3.36
4	Christian ANDERSEN	DEN	1:03,512	5.562

Issues with the race course

Now lets share some over all impressions form this sprint race. Our first thought was that the ISA would refrain from buoy turns since they are not having a beach race this time. Now that they were having an ICF style lane race, one would have thought they would have taken notes from the ICF, but they haven’t. Once the paddlers had the wind in the back at the start there was no one to hold them so it was a real struggle to keep the board in place and there were many false starts. What was great for spectators was not so great for the races. If you looked at the buoy turns, they were so close to the shoreline wall that the noes of the board only came within a few centimeters. In fact the entire course was too tight. The back wash created by the wall and the generally turbulent water on the way back to the finish line created a real challenge. O

Anna Tschirky how was on site for us and spoke to some athletes found some clear words:

“It was just a terrible course. You’re probably going to say it was interesting for the spectators again, right? Yeah, that too. But sorry, this is a World Championship, not a promotion show. Everything was built way, way, way too close to the wall, which caused a lot of backwash. At the beginning, everyone had to paddle through this start and finish arch. It was all so tight that you could almost guarantee that the two paddlers in the middle, in positions 2 and 3, wouldn’t make it through because they got stuck in the backwash and couldn’t get around the buoy. That really didn’t work at all. It led to a lot of discussions, especially about the start. There were really a lot of false starts. It was super difficult because the wind was coming from behind, and it was just impossible to get everyone lined up at the start. They started from the pontoon, which means someone should have been holding them from behind, like they always do at the ICF, but they didn’t do that. For example, Cameron Tripney and Linus Karlsson fell in and didn’t make it because of that issue. It was pretty crappy.

I also talked to a few racers, and they also said the course was a bit of a hassle. At the end, especially with the women, it was super tight at the buoy, and there were some disqualifications for some but not for others. You just had to hope you weren’t affected. For the spectators, it was cool, but for the racers, not so much.”

Watch for your self