Less than one Month to Go: Anticipation Builds for the 2024 ICF SUP World Championships
The countdown is on—just one month remains until one of the most anticipated events in stand-up paddling. The 2024 ICF SUP World Championships in Sarasota, Florida, promises an exciting season finale despite the challenges posed by Hurricane Milton. After initial uncertainty, organizers are now confident that the event will go ahead as planned, and the excitement is building.
Unlike the ISA World Championships, the ICF allows open registration, giving us early insight into the lineup of participants. For weeks, we’ve been tracking the sign-ups closely, analyzing who’s competing and who’s missing. With the event just around the corner, we’ve taken another look at the numbers, anticipating that few more registrations will come in at this stage.
Participation Numbers and Demographics: A Mixed Picture
The detailed registration sheets not only reveal the participants but also offer a snapshot of the sport’s demographic landscape. However, the turnout for Sarasota appears lower than expected, falling short of the ICF’s hopes. After the overwhelming participation at last year’s event in Thailand, expectations were high for an even bigger turnout in 2024. Yet, surprisingly, U.S. paddlers have not signed up in large numbers, raising the question: where are the American athletes?
Finding answers isn’t easy. The U.S. is a vast country, with paddling varying in popularity by region. Florida, known as the Sunshine State, seemed like the ideal setting for a major SUP event, but the local participation numbers are underwhelming.
The Numbers So Far
As of now, 398 paddlers are registered for the Sprint event, 399 for the Long Distance race, and 384 for the Technical Race. Additionally, the ICF will host an inflatable board race, with 65 competitors signed up. Unfortunately, the 14-and-under Kids Race has drawn just 22 entries—a disappointing figure for what should be a key development category for the sport’s future.
In the Sprint division, the Junior age group (15–18) boasts 78 participants, a positive sign for the sport’s youth engagement. Interestingly, the 50+ age group stands out with 113 entries, showing that seasoned paddlers remain eager to compete. The 40+ Masters class is also well-represented, with 79 participants.
The most competitive field, however, remains the Open Division, which features 128 entries. This division attracts the sport’s elite athletes, as they battle for prize money across all race formats. Notably, most of the top athletes competing in the Sprint division are also registered for the Long Distance and Technical races, making it the best indicator of overall participation.
Who’s Racing and What to Expect?
As with any major event, the race to predict winners is well underway. However, our previous forecasts—especially on the men’s side—didn’t pan out as expected at the ISA World Championships. That experience has made us cautious this time around.
Notable names and title defenders
ICF 2023 World Champions and Title defenders
- Tech Race: Connor Baxter – Esperanza Barreras
- Longdistance: Noic Garioud – Esperanza Barreras
- Sprint: Noic Garioud – Seychelle Webster
(Connor Baxter not returning to the ICF Worlds this year)
Esperanza Barreras
Espe is notably the woman to beat at this years ICF SUP Worlds. Out of the 10 races she paddeled this year, her worst result was a 4th place at the Tech. Race at the Lake Rocks in Austria. She won the ISA Longdistance and got second in the Tech. Race. We can expect Espe making podiums in all three disciplines.
Noic Garioud
Noic Garioud became a father this year and we have not seen him racing like we are used to. He did very well in the ISA Sprint Races this year with a 3rd place but ranked only 15th in the Tech Race and in long distance things did not go his way at all. Noic is always a force to be reckoned with and with his competitive mind set and price money on the line, we are sure he will do what it takes to redeem himself and go full force in Sarasota.
Seychelle Webster
Seychelle made her grand entry back into the International SUP Race World last year with a gold medal in Thailand. This year she competed in 7 races but did not achieve results like she did at the height of her career. She missed the podiums on all three race classes at the ISA Worlds. We are sure with home turf advantage and price money waiting in Sarasota, Seychelle is ready to do what it takes to grab some of that money on the podium.
Juliette DuHaime
Juliette had a very successful year with many podiums either in Europe or South America. She is currently holding the World Raking top spot in Tech. Race and is in third in Longdistance. However we did not see her at the ISA in Denmark and therefore it will be interesting to see how she is doing against the international competition she hasn’t faced in a while.
Michael Booth
Boothy is one of the biggest names in the sport, however this year he somehow was not able to live up to his name so far. His results at the ISA were not Boothy like, with a 9th – 8th -12th place. He however had a good run in Europe with a two podiums in Austria at the Lake Rocks and a third place in Barcelona. He did win the Longdistance Race at the Carolina Cup. The ICF in Sarasota is a big moment for Boothy and we are sure he is very eager to better his ISA record against the international competition.
Rai Taguchi
Rai had a very busy year with 14 races under his belt, he is entering the ICF World with a lot of momentum. He earned two world titles at the ISA, one in Longdistance and one in the Tech. Race. If he can repeat that in Sarasota he should be in for a good pay day.
Shuri “Shrimpy” Araki
Shrimpy might have not raced as much as in previous years but when he shows up he usually wins. This year he completed 7 races and won 6. That is remarkable! He did miss out on the ISA, so we have not see him racing amongst his international peers in a while, but if one guy is capable todo big things, its him.
Duna Gordillo
Duna is one of our favorite female athletes and has an amazing track record. She raced in 10 races this year and got nothing but podiums and is holding the ISA World Title in the Tech. Race and got third in Longdistance. Duna is very much in contingency for a world title in Sarasota.
Marie Carmen Rivera
Marie Carmen has had an amazing year so far. She raced in 12 race this year and got pretty much podium in all of them. At the ISA she was 2nd in Longdistance, 3rd in Tech. Race and 4th in Sprints. She is a big competition to Esp and Duna and we would put it past her not snagging a title from one of these two ladies.
Alba Frey
Alba is another great female athlete. She paddeled nothing but podiums in all races she made an appearance. She is currently holding the ISA Sprint World Title and and won three times gold at the ICF SUP World Cup “Agios Nikolaos on SUP”. She is a big contender for a world title in any of the disciplines.
Donato Freens
Donato is one of the busiest paddler of 2024, with 14 races completed. He made many podiums, but fell short of podiums in bigger races like the ISA Worlds and the Busan Open. We know Donato is very ambitious and we are sure is training very hard for a good result in Sarasota and is very capable of one.
Christian Andersen
He told us prior to the ISA that he was not sure if he is making his way to Sarasota so we are even happier to see him on the list now. Christian the Polarbear got some podiums in 2024, namely at the Busan Open and some other local races. His biggest result this year so far is probably his 4th place in the Sprints at the ISA in his home country of Denmark.
Andri Kraitor
Andri Kraitor is actually the only athlete in this list with actual Olympic experience. He has been training paddlers all over Aisa and is supporting the community with his rental program for SUP Race Boards. His last victory was his 1st place at the ICF World Cup in Sprints at the Agios Nikolaos. He also won sprints at the Lake Rocks Festival and the ECA SUP Championships and in Pattaya last year he took bronze. He can definitely win a podium or even secure a title in Sarasota if things go his way.
Cecilia Pampinella
Cecilia has become a big name in recent years and with a 2nd place in the Sprints at the ISA Worlds in Denmark, she has solidified her standing in international rankings. She competed in 14 races this year with many great results and podiums. However she did not do as well across the board at the ISA as her fans have expected and we are sure she is going to Sarasota with an extra portion of motivation.
Clement Colmas
Clement is a jack of all trades in the water and a bit of an underground SUP Paddler. We don’t see his name that often but when we do he is doing actually pretty well. His stand out result this year was his second place in the Longdistance Race at the ISA in Denmark.
Itzel Delgado
Itzel had pretty busy season so far, from the M2O, the Copa America and the SUP 11 City Tour Itzel did it all. He won all three disciplines at the Copa America and the Tech. Race at the Pan American Games. At the ISA he did not too well, so we will see how the ICF Worlds will work out for him.
Summary
There are so many great athletes and it is really hard to put your money on one or the other. All these people are capable to take a world title in Sarasota. One thing is for sure after all: The days in Sarasota will be full of action and suspenseful races.