Nearly 200 participants competed in the 2023 Gran Carrera del Mediterráneo SUP (The Great Mediterranean Race) event brought by the 5-time ICF World Champion Daniel Parres (also a former international windsurfer athlete) and the Club Deportivo Parres (Parres WaterSports). The 5th edition of the ocean race will be without doubt remembered by tough conditions with strong wind gusts that hit the Alicante coast.
Daniel Parres
Varadero Beach was the central stage of this annual SUP event bringing together athletes from across the Mediterranean and different parts of Spain, looking to score additional points in the Mediterranean SUP Race 2023 Circuit and the Spanish Cup of the Spanish Surfing Federation.
The Elite and Under 18 divisions were the first to jump into the water, starting from the Carabassí Beach with the finish line in Varadero, where the starts of the rest of the races took place. Within the first minutes of the competition the wind started picking up and eventually surpassed all forecasts.
Sergio Cantoral and Inés Blin were the fastest in general classification adapting perfectly to different conditions they had to face over the course of their races. They repeated their success in the U18 category.
Iván de Frutos and Pablo Carbonell finished in second and third position of the Men’s general classification, with Laura Paricio and Teresa Criado taking the silver and bronze medals in the Women division.
Amateur SUP riders and U16s were affected by tough weather conditions the most and the Organisers decided to suspend their races for safety reasons. The race courses were modified and brought closer to the shore with crews on rescue boats supporting the event.
The youngest SUP athletes still managed to put up great racing show enjoyed by their families, friends and the crowd gathered on the Varadero beach who cheered them on as they powered through the wind.
The U14 and the Rookie division races, which made a successful debut with a large number of participants, closed the competition. This both intense and exciting event culminated with an Award Ceremony and raffles sponsored by collaborating brands.
What made this edition noteworthy were pre-event SUP activities delivered by Blue Equipments, a company specializing in adaptive SUP chairs, supporting users with reduced mobility in introducing them to the sport.
U18 Women Elite
1st Ines Blin
2nd Laura Paricio
3rd Teresa Criado
U18 Men Elite
1. Sergio Cantoral
2. Ivan de Frutos
3. Pablo Carbonell
Women Rookie
1. Xelo Marti
2. Sandra Rodriguez
3. Borja Merchandise
Men Rookie
1. Jose Joaquín de Rojas
2. Carlos Faraco
Women Kahuna
1. Deborah Wolff
2. Piedad Fernandez
Men Kahuna
1. Sebastian Monserrat
2. Moses Lopez
3. Miguel Martin of Rio
Men Grand Kahuna
1. Carlos Alberto Rivero
2. Jose Ramon Ros
3. Peter Pablo Fernandez
Elite Men’s Inflatable
1. White Ramon
Senior Men Elite
1. Isaac Hernandez
2. Teo Ugeda
3. Clemente Perez
To find out more about Gran Carrera del Mediterráneo SUP Race, visit mediterraneosuprace.com
Follow Gran Carrera del Mediterráneo SUP Race on Instagram and Facebook
*This article is a translation of the Gran Carrera del Mediterráneo SUP Race Press Release
Images courtesy of Gran Carrera del Mediterráneo SUP Race
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