The news broke on October 2nd when the ISA announced the formation of a new SUP Commission. It feels like we could have used the same introduction as we did in previous articles—after all, the ISA has made several similar announcements over the years, as we outlined in our last piece. However, this time things are a bit different. The ISA has brought some of the biggest names in the sport on board for this initiative, making it stand out.
The most prominent figures include Candice Appleby, who will serve as chairwoman, with Connor Baxter, Casper Steinfath, and Titouan Puyo also joining as members.
Interestingly, Casper Steinfath was named Vice President of the ISA several years ago but later stepped back from this role. Another notable figure is strategic advisor Anthony Vela, who has held the position since 2022. Vela has a long history as a race director, dating back to the Battle of the Paddle era, and continues to manage events for both the APP and ISA.
With such a star-studded lineup, we reached out to two familiar names—Connor Baxter and Candice Appleby. During a recent phone call with Candice, we were curious to know how this commission came about.
According to Candice, the ISA recognized the need for a commission. “Every sport has commissions and boards made up of people to help guide its development,” she explained. The SUP Commission will advise the ISA on the needs of athletes and national federations.
We also asked about the commission’s specific purpose. Candice emphasized that its main role is to gather feedback from the SUP community. “The feedback we collect from athletes and federations will help us shape best practices moving forward,” she said.
The ultimate goal of the commission is to increase participation at the ISA World Championships by bringing more nations into the fold, especially those that may not have a National Surfing Association. The commission will hold several meetings to develop strategies for achieving these goals.
One significant point of confusion in the SUP world is the belief that the ICF (International Canoe Federation) is responsible for bringing SUP to the Olympics. Candice was very clear on this: “The ICF will never bring SUP to the Olympics.” We all know for quite a while now that the IOC Court of Arbitration has already ruled in favor of the ISA on this matter.
The ISA has worked tirelessly to include surfing in the Olympics, and the same effort applies to SUP. The ISA first submitted SUP for Olympic inclusion in 2015 for the Tokyo Games, but only surfing made the cut. SUP was left out of the Paris Games due to ongoing legal disputes. Now that surfing is part of the Olympic core program, the Los Angeles 2028 commission stated that SUP could only be added if the ISA dropped another discipline. Since there are no other disciplines to drop, this scenario became moot. This is pushing a possible SUP inclusion to Brisbane 2032. (Ed. note: If the ISA can’t drop a discipline by 2032 for SUP to be Olympic we are not quite sure how else this then would work out.)
As for Connor Baxter, he told us that he was simply notified via email that he had been nominated to join the commission and was asked if he would accept. He accepted but did not receive further details on how things proceed.
Editors note:
We could provide this commission with hours and hours of topics and problems to solve. A start would be race courses for example. Or the ISAs inability to communicate with the SUP community during the year. This commission has lots of work ahead of them if they are looking to unify the sport across the globe and interest groups.
As for our part, we keep writing about the news that come out of the ISA and look forward to update the community on the work of the commission and ultimately measure their success and results.
Candice Appleby Interview from June 2024
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