Spain Extends Lead as Barreras Claims Third Distance World Title at the 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship

Clean sweep for England in Paddleboard Distance Races

Japan’s Rai Taguchi collects third event Gold Medal in push to be first to win four in a single event

Copenhagen – September 21, 2024

Copenhagen once again turned it on for the 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC). Thousands of spectators throughout the city witnessed the world’s best paddlers competing in the event’s four distance races on a stunning Saturday afternoon. Each race was made up of three laps of an approximately four kilometer course that tracked through the picturesque canals of the city, featuring some of its most iconic elements along the way.

Spain and Japan both furthered their medal counts, creating more distance between themselves and the rest of the teams. Meanwhile, England continued to improve their standing, claiming two of the four Gold Medals available today and jumped to fourth on the team rankings.

Clean sweep for England in Paddleboard Distance Races

Entering this year’s event without a single WSUPPC Gold Medal to their name, Team England has so far notched three. Molly Roodhouse (ENG) won her first World Title after a photo finish with two World Champions, Yurika Horibe (JPN) and Judit Verges (ESP), in the women’s Paddleboard Distance Race, before Andrew Byatt (ENG) made it a clean sweep for England in the division, winning his second Gold Medal of the event. It was the dream scenario for Team England, and Roodhouse, who regularly trains together with Byatt.

“For Andy (Byatt) to win that first gold medal for England was really inspirational,” Roodhouse said. “He’s been such a big inspiration and great motivator. I knew it was gonna be a tough race. And it was, it was so tight. It’s an amazing achievement, especially for me, coming from an inland city. Paddling wasn’t even on the radar for me five years ago and now world champ, it’s pretty unreal.”

It was one of the tightest finishes in the history of the women’s Paddleboard Distance Race, certainly the closest since 2018. Roodhouse, Horibe, Verges and Cornelia Rigatti (ITA) broke into an early front pack, a position which they continually strengthened. Rigatti slowly lost ground, while the three leaders never gave each other an inch. The photo finish went the way of 24-year-old Roodhouse, while Horibe, the back-to-back defending champion, was dead even with Verges, 0.8 seconds behind.

Byatt was genuinely surprised to take the win in his race. Despite winning the Silver Medal in 2023, the 44-year-old had expected his younger competitors to outpace him. But, with his family present, the Englishman beat out a hard charging David Buil (ESP), his first-ever victory over the Spanish defending champion, who won the Silver Medal. Internationally renowned sports photographer Donald Miralle (USA) improved upon last year’s Copper Medal to win the Bronze, while Oisin McGrath (IRL) backed up his Technical Race Copper Medal with the same in the Distance.

Esperanza Barreras solidifies dominance, becomes first woman to win three Gold Medals in SUP Distance Race

Esperanza Barreras (ESP) claimed her fifth World Title after winning back-to-back wins in the women’s SUP Distance Race. The first woman to win the race three times, Barreras has dominated the division since her first event in 2019, only being beaten once, in 2022, when she won the Silver Medal after finishing just two seconds behind her teammate Duna Gordillo (ESP).

After Gordillo and Barreras set themselves as the breakaway lead pack for the past two events, today it was Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR) who joined Barreras with a strong lead, the two sharing a coach and training together over the past year. Meanwhile, Gordillo led a large following pack, including Rika Okuaki (JPN), Sey Chelle (USA), Csillag-Virag Kocsis (HUN) and Iona Rivet (FRA). Barreras and Rivera stayed together for the duration, eventually growing their lead to over two minutes. But Barreras never gave up the front position, claiming her third SUP Distance Race two seconds ahead of Rivera, whose Silver Medal joins five other WSUPPC medals in her collection. Gordillo claimed Bronze, while Okuaki and Chelle had a photo finish for Copper, with Okuaki barely getting the nod.

“I’m so happy to take the win here in Copenhagen,” Barreras said. “For me, it’s a super special place. It was quite close, but I was quite calm during all the race thinking about what I wanted to do. It was good for me. My mind was clear. And then at the end I had a push and I could take the win.”

Japan’s Rai Taguchi collects third event Gold Medal in push to be first to win four in a single event

Rai Taguchi (JPN) is one step closer to his goal of winning four gold medals in a single event after claiming the Gold Medal in the SUP Distance Race. The 20-year-old is the second man to win the SUP Technical and Distance Races in the same year, after Shuri ‘Shrimpy’ Araki (JPN) achieved the feat for the previous two years. Taguchi is already one Gold Medal ahead of Araki’s count after Japan won their first Team Relay. Now, he has one more race in his sights, tomorrow’s SUP Sprint.

“I’m so happy but I’m so tired,” Taguchi said. “I’ve already finished three races and before that, two races. Today’s distance course is very technical, you need technique because of the very narrow way. But I wanted the gold medal and just kept thinking, ‘Gold medal, gold medal.’”

Similar to the men’s Paddleboard race, a lead pack of eight men stayed tight together across the majority of the course, with no one breaking away for the first two laps. Taguchi attempted a break at the start of the third lap to no avail. In the final kilometer, four paddlers managed to create some distance. Taguchi took the lead, followed by teammate Kotaro Miyahira (JPN), and the French pair of Clément Colmas and Ethan Bry. Taguchi paddled his heart out, creating a 6 second gap ahead of the tighter pack of Colmas, Miyahira and Bry, who finished in Silver, Bronze, and Copper Medal positions, respectively.

Competition will resume tomorrow at Den Sorte Diamant at 12:00 pm CEST with the SUP Sprint Races.

RESULTS

Women’s Paddleboard Distance Race
Gold – Molly Roodhouse (ENG)
Silver – Yurika Horibe (JPN)
Silver – Judit Verges (ESP)
Copper – Cornelia Rigatti (ITA)

Men’s Paddleboard Distance Race
Gold – Andrew Byatt (ENG)
Silver – David Buil (ESP)
Bronze – Donald Miralle (USA)
Copper – Oisin McGrath (IRL)

Women’s SUP Distance Race
Gold – Esperanza Barreras (ESP)
Silver – Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR)
Bronze – Duna Gordillo (ESP)
Copper – Rika Okuaki (JPN)

Men’s SUP Distance Race
Gold – Rai Taguchi (JPN)
Silver – Clément Colmas (FRA)
Bronze – Kotaro Miyahira (JPN)
Copper – Ethan Bry (FRA)