Sprints Take Center Stage at SUP World Championship in Denmark

(ATR) Fast, furious and filled with photo finishes, the 200-meter stand-up paddle sprint races thrilled audiences in Copenhagen on Sunday morning.

Hometown hero Casper Steinfath and Slovenian Manca Notar paddled to gold medals in the event at the 2017 World Stand-Up Paddle and Paddleboard championship.

Steinfath, a vice-president of the International Surfing Association, powered to victory in 57.45 seconds, winning his fourth career world title. The sprint event was contested only for the second time at a SUP World Championship. It could be one of the events proposed to be added to the Olympic Program, as surfing tries to join Paris 2024.

"I definitely believe explosive sprint racing is a big future of our sport," Steinfath told Around the Rings. "Personally though, I’d like to see a few buoy turns put in and then you’ll see some more crashes."

Australian Lincoln Dews – who won a copper medal finishing fourth – likes the discipline, especially the focus it requires.

"It’s a pretty tricky event," Dews said. "You can’t back off for a second. If you drop one stroke, it’s a half of a boat length. You have to be on the money the whole time."

Steinfath said he has enjoyed "hosting the party" in Copenhagen, welcoming the SUP family to his country.

"Having this event here is a testament of the universality and global appeal of SUP and it’s been amazing to see," he said.

Slovenian gold medalist Manca Notar is another example of an athlete from a non-traditional water sports nation thriving in SUP. Unlike other surfing disciplines, only a flat body of water is required to train for SUP events.

"It’s incredible coming from Slovenia where we have only lakes and it’s not really a water sports country," Notar said. "And I’m training all the time at home alone, so this is really cool."

As the ISA promotes and pushes for the rapidly growing sport of SUP to be included on the 2024 Olympic program, they have invested into and partnered with the Association of Paddleboard Professionals (APP), which overseas the sport’s Pro Tour.

APP chief executive officer Tristan Boxford is in the Danish capital collaborating with ISA president Fernando Aguerre to help better package and improve all aspects of the sport.

Boxford, who is organizing an indoor race with a start ramp in Paris, an example of the sport’s versatility, is also a fan of the sprints.

"It’s thrilling and spectator friendly as opposed to watching a two-hour distance race," Boxford said of the discipline.

However, ISA executive director Robert Fasulo advises that a somewhat longer race, contested over a few laps with beach transitions is more likely to be proposed to the International Olympic Committee.

While surfing will make its highly anticipated Olympic debut in Tokyo 2020, SUP was rejected by the IOC.

Daniel Hasulyo of Hungary – who finished fourth on Sunday after his brother Bruno won gold in the 20k distance race on Saturday – called the first SUP championship staged in Europe an "epic and historical moment for the sport."

After six medal events and three days of competition on Copenhagen’s canals and harbor waters, the ten-day championship now transitions to Vorupør on Denmark’s northwestern coast. The remote fishing village offers waves for the SUP competitors and is often referred to as ‘Cold Hawaii'.

Surfing president Aguerre addressed athletes and the SUP community gathered at the Scandinavian city’s iconic Opera House for the medal ceremony.

"It’s a little bittersweet – we’ve had such a great time in this beautiful city, riding bicycles and enjoying the culture, but now it is time that we leave for the Danish countryside."

Written and reported by Brian Pinelli in Copenhagen

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