Top Seeds Take the Lead as Technical Racing Finals are Defined for the 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship

Semifinal wins for former medalists Esperanza Barreras, Noic Garioud, Rai Taguchi and Mariecarmen Rivera provide top billing heading into Finals

Jiwon Choi excited to debut South Korea in the nation’s first WSUPPC

Copenhagen – September 17, 2024

Action got underway today at the 2024 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC), with Round 1 and the Semifinals of the men’s and women’s SUP Technical Races taking place. Tricky initial conditions gave way to a stunning afternoon, with light winds and beautiful autumn sun lighting up the beach at Copenhagen’s Amager Strandpark.

The top seeds all had strong showings, with multiple former medalists taking the lead. Noic Garioud (FRA) and Esperanza Barreras (ESP) entered the day leading the pack for men and women, respectively, and both were able to hang on to their positions. As members of the 2023 Gold and Silver Medal winning teams, their early leads could foreshadow another tight battle in the 2024 team race.

Competing in his first event of the year, Garioud, the 2023 SUP Sprint Race World Champion and new father, was able to take two commanding wins today to enter tomorrow’s Final as the number one seed. In the SUP Technical Race, Garioud has won the Silver Medal for the previous two years.

“It feels great to be back in Copenhagen,” Garioud said. “It’s good to be in this position for my first race of the year. You’re always aiming for the gold, but you never know what can happen. There’s a lot of good and strong guys here. We’ll just smash 100% and see where it goes. Definitely trying for that fourth year in a row as a French team winning of the event. The Spanish team is so strong, so it’s always a good battle between us both.”

2023 SUP Technical Race Bronze Medalist Rai Taguchi (JPN) was also able to claim two wins today, posting the fastest time of the day, 19 minutes, 7 seconds, in his Semifinal. Taguchi faced strong competition from Aaron Sanchez (ESP), and the pair were neck-and-neck headed into the final turn, where Sanchez was caught on the buoy, leaving Taguchi to make the break. The 20-year-old Japanese is confidently chasing gold medals across three divisions this year and was excited to start so strong today.

Duna Gordillo (ESP) had two close finishes today, one with Melanie Lafenetre (FRA) in her first heat, and one with teammate Esperanza Barreras (ESP) in her second. Gordillo got the better of Lafenetre by a millisecond, but was pipped by her long-time sparring partner, Barreras, in the Semifinal. The two Spaniards have shared multiple medals together in recent years, however Barreras is a two-time World Champion in the SUP Technical Race, and Gordillo has yet to medal in the discipline outside of the Juniors. Meanwhile, Lafenetre is the defending Silver Medalist and Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR), the defending Bronze Medalist, took a strong win in the second Semifinal. At 40-years-old, and with a slew of Gold Medals to her name, Barreras is looking as strong as ever and is excited to be in her current position.

“I think the ISA is the most important championship in the world,” Barreras said. “I’ve been training all these years to be tomorrow on the final day, so I just can say that I’m really happy. It’s going to be hard, I know, because the level of all the athletes is super high and we are pretty close, all of us, so any mistake and you maybe go backwards. But I’m really happy, really excited and I can’t wait to be tomorrow on the startline. To be honest, I think that the Spanish team last year made a super big step and all the athletes are at a super high level, so I don’t want to say anything, but I think that this can be our year.”

South Korea was represented for the very first time in the WSUPPC today, with Jiwon Choi (KOR) competing in the women’s SUP Technical Race. Though she narrowly missed progression, Choi was excited to compete for her country on the international stage and share the experience with so many talented women from around the world. The 38-year-old couldn’t help but let out a massive smile after completing the race.

“I had a lot of fun,” Choi said. “It’s my first time participating in the ISA World Championship. I’m here alone now, but next year I’m going to be back with a bigger team. There are a lot of better paddlers than me, so we’ll all come together and compete with the rest of the teams in this amazing sport.”

Competition will begin tomorrow at Amager Strandpark at 1:00 pm CEST with the SUP Technical Racing Finals.