Exclusive - Surfing, Canoe Federations Battle Over Stand-Up Paddling

(ATR) A feud between the International Surfing Association and International Canoe Federation over ownership of the stand-up paddling discipline has resulted in the growing sport being left off the 2018 Youth Olympic Games program.

A meeting between the two federations and IOC president Thomas Bach was unable to produce an amicable solution to the dispute.

Under the ISA umbrella, the 2017 edition of the World SUP Championships will be contested at two locations in Denmark in September – Copenhagen and Vorupor. In Aarhus, Denmark for the SportAccord Convention, ISA president Fernando Aguerre stated his position to Around the Rings regarding the contentious matter.

"We tried to include the SUP racing in Buenos Aires for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, but another federation with zero history of the sport were successful in blocking us even though they have never run a SUP event in their whole life," Aguerre tells ATR.

"At the ISA we had been developing SUP alone and unobstructed for over seven years without any opposition from anybody," Aguerre said. "And now that we got very close to inclusion in the 2018 Youth Olympics, they stopped us without any legal merits under the pretense that our vessels look like theirs, when in reality it’s the other way around.

International Canoe Federation secretary general Simon Toulson refuted Aguerre’s claim.

"The problem is ISA announced SUP as their discipline without any consultation with any other sports or with SportAccord," Toulson tells Around the Rings. "They were unaware that we already were conducting activities in SUP," he claims.

"Saying we blocked Buenos Aires is slightly misleading," he added. "We proposed a sharing of the sport and also several different options. ISA refused all of them.

"Finally, no agreement was made in a meeting in front of the IOC President."

Toulson said the ICF is open to negotiation and compromise with the ISA, adding that mediation could occur if no solution is reached in the near future.

Aguerre added: "Sad state of affairs indeed, but justice and our real roots of SUP will prevail and justice will always win."

Stand-up paddling is widely considered the world’s fastest growing water sport. Aguerre notes that surfing legend Laird Hamilton is the father of the SUP discipline and its roots lie with the lifestyle sport.

"SUP is a surfing discipline that was created by Laird Hamilton on the North Shore of Oahu when there was no waves," Aguerre said. "This is the history of the sport."

Aguerre looks forward to the sixth edition of the ISA championships in Denmark as yet another golden opportunity for the federation to showcase the discipline at a new location. He points out that the ICF has never hosted a world championship or major international competition in SUP.

"The ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship continues to grow year on year and this is testament to the ISA’s efforts to nurture and develop this key discipline," Aguerre said. "We will continue to lead the global promotion of SUP as we aim for the inclusion of the discipline in future editions of the Olympic Games."

Toulson admitted that the dispute between the two summer federations is a complicated situation.

"Most SUP competitions are run by promoters and private companies… mainly board manufacturers," Toulson said, noting that "the majority of our Federations had been developing this discipline within our own structure for several years. Many are affiliated to the NOCs and this is where it gets complicated over ownership."

Another meeting between the parties and high-ranking officials is scheduled for Thursday in Aarhus.

Written by Brian Pinelli

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