ISA World SUP & Paddleboard Championship – Team England’s Recap

* Press Release: Surfing England

As the team wind their way back across Europe, the van roof is stacked with 14 ft carbon race boards and in the cab, 3 gold medals hang on the dash.  That haul makes this the most successful English or British team to ever grace a surfing or SUP world championships.  

SUP is one of our most accessible watersports, and over 1.6 million brits own a SUP for exploring our rivers and coasts.  With so many people enjoying the sport, it’s no surprise racing series have developed, and the World Championships sit right at the top as the sports most competitive and prestigious event. 

The athletes have to tackle a range of different disciplines, with each competitor collecting points that contribute to an overall team total. 

 The most explosive and furious racing comes from the Sprint Races.  Short 200 meter courses where F1 level reaction times, explosive energy and excellent paddling technique is the key to success.

For Team England, Blue Ewer from South Devon put in a huge performance to reach the semi finals and take 5^th place.  Holly Pyne, a fellow South Devon watersports fanatic gave an equally impressive performance making it to the quarter finals and taking 9^th place. 

Requiring epic levels of fitness and endurance are the Distance Races.  Typically between 5 and 20km it’s not just a physical battle as mental endurance is crucial as fatigue sets in and athletes deploy their race strategies; managing pace, race positions and when to make that final charge to the finish line.   In the men’s race Blue Ewer delivered another top 10 performance, paddling for 1hr and 9 minutes to take an impressive 7^th with team mate Hector Jessel just a few minutes behind and taking 25^th.   In the women’s race Annabel Page completed the course in 1hr 21 coming in 18^th , arriving seconds before team mate Holly Pye in 20^th. 

Introducing a zig zagging course full of tight turns is the technical race.  Hairpin corners  necessitate paddlers to weight the back of their board, lifting the nose clear out the water to pivot round the marker buoys.  Excellent board handling and agility are required, as well as supreme stability battling through the corners.  Holly Pye battled to the semi finals and Annabelle Page went all the way to the finals, finishing in 13^th place amongst a stacked field. For the men’s racing Blue Ewer and Hector Jessel put in a solid performance with another 7^th and 25^th placing respectively.  

The final category is the Prone Racing, where the competitors ditch the paddle and lay or kneel on the board, paddling with their arms as you would on a surf board.  The prone racers take on both a technical and distance course, requiring a very different skill set, but equal physicality.   This is where Team England really shone. 

In the women’s distance race Molly Roodhouse, a champion Surf Life Saving paddler made it round the course in 1hr and 28 minutes to beat Japanese favourite Yurika Horibe by under a second to gold and the world title.    It was Andrew ‘milky’ Bryant’s year as he took gold in the men’s technical.  With his family on route to the event, they sadly missed his winning moment.  Leaving Milky with only one option, to smash the prone distance event two days later in just 1hr 26 minutes taking a second gold and creating a magic moment with his daughter on the podium.  Jessica Georgelin had paused her University studies to come and compete with the team, and it’s lucky she did.   In a very competitive prone technical race she place firmly in the top 10 with a well deserved 6^th. 

Alongside the adult entries, u18s also battle it out on the technical courses.  Our junior SUPers James Little and Tess Page did the team proud with their efforts and gained crucial competition experience as they continue to develop as promising young SUP athletes. 

Overall, a very impressive 5^th place finish for the team, missing out on Copper medals by just a whisker, a firmly beating powerhouse nations Brazil and the USA.  

Not being an Olympic sport (yet) means SUP racing is largely self funded, although thanks to Surfing England, dryrobe, GB SUP, BSUPA and ShoreTees the kit and some of the competition costs were covered. With SUP currently sitting as the UK’s most popular watersport and Team England in the world top 5, the door is open for a major sponsor to step in and become a part of this amazing sport.