ICF SUP World Championships 2025 Athletes

ICF SUP World Championships 2025: Anticipation Builds for Abu Dhabi

We are just a few days away from the highly anticipated ICF SUP World Championships in Abu Dhabi. Following the more conveniently located 2024 event in Florida, we were especially curious to see who would make the journey to the more remote Arabian Peninsula this year.

As we review the entry list and crunch the numbers, it’s clear that participation is down compared to last year. A major reason appears to be the limited number of athletes traveling from the United States. However, there are still at least two strong American medal contenders: Katniss Paris, the 2024 Sprint Champion, and Seychelle, who finished just 0.38 seconds behind her in a thrilling final. We’re already looking forward to a possible rematch between the two.

Notable Absences from the Entry List

While reviewing the entries, several familiar names from last year are missing. Despite a social media post suggesting his participation, we were unable to find Michael Booth on the entry list. Itzel Delgado of Peru and Esperanza Barreras are also not listed. We are also missing Cecilia Pampinellas name on the list. These are just a few of the most prominent absentees, and the list goes on. Rather than dwell on who’s missing, we’ll focus on those who are competing — especially the top teams and key athletes to watch, based on last year’s results.

Sprint Races: Rematches and Rising Stakes

In the women’s sprint, Katniss Paris narrowly edged out Seychelle in 2024, winning by a fraction of a second. Both will return to compete this year, setting the stage for another intense showdown.

Katniss-Paris-ICF-SUP-Sprint-2024 — Katniss big moment in Sarasota, behind is Seychelle just a fraction of a second.

In the men’s sprint, Andrei Kraitor claimed the 2024 title by just 0.41 seconds over Manuel Hoyuela. Both are returning in 2025, along with Cameron Tripney, last year’s bronze medalist and South Africa’s sole representative this year. The sprint races are shaping up to be some of the most exciting events of the championship.

Technical Races: Surprises and Opportunities

The technical races promise to be unpredictable. Duna Gordillo, the defending champion, returns after last year’s dramatic final in Sarasota — an event that saw Seychelle disqualified under controversial circumstances.

Notably, Esperanza Barreras, the 2024 runner-up, does not appear on the entry list. Her absence is surprising, and we hope there’s still a possibility she could be a last-minute addition.

On the men’s side, both Noic Garioud, the 2024 champion, and his brother Vaic are missing from the entries. This could open the door for Shuri Araki to claim the title — though he’ll have to contend with Manuel Hoyuela, who finished third last year.

Long Distance: A Reshuffled Field?

In the long-distance races, we may see a significant shake-up compared to 2025. Several of last year’s top-five finishers are absent this time around.

In the women’s race, if Espe Barreras is indeed not competing, the field will be wide open. Expect strong performances from 2024 standouts such as Marie Carmen Rivera, Juliette DuHaime, Seychelle, and Rika Okuaki.

On the men’s side, three of the top five from last year are confirmed to race. The two absentees — once again — are Noic Garioud as well as Ethan Bry.

With top contenders returning and a number of big names missing, this year’s ICF SUP World Championships in Abu Dhabi promises high stakes, emerging talent, and some unexpected storylines. Stay tuned — it’s going to be a thrilling ride.

For all of you who like some numbers we looked at the countries with the highest participation and as in 2024 Greece and Spain are the biggest teams. Followed by the Individual Neutra Athletes. France is also shwing up with quite a few athletes.

Battle of Ages

Apart from the number of paddlers we also looked at the average age of the top 15 paddlers. The four younges nations are Japan, Germany, Greece and Spain. Germany is particularly interesting as their team has quite an age gap. We all remember Germanys Peter Weidert ruling the Senior Class with the only 3 world titles claimed. Now we see if one of their juniors be able to clinch a podium.