ICF SUP 2024: Pre-season insight with Hoichan Kwon

With the anticipation of the 2024 season mounting, and following the resounding success of the 2023 ICF SUP Worlds in Thailand, which showcased the sport’s global appeal with over 900 participants from 51 nations, Hoichan Kwon, the esteemed Event Manager at the International Canoe Federation (ICF) shares his insights and strategic outlook for the upcoming circuit. From the 1st ICF SUP World Ranking event in two weeks, the Spring SUP Race in Italy, to the grand finale at the 2024 ICF SUP Worlds in Sarasota, Florida, Hoichan Kwon provides a captivating preview of the thrilling adventures ahead!

Hello Hoichan, first and foremost, congratulations on orchestrating an immensely successful event in Thailand last year. What’s your assessment of its impact?

Hello Mathieu. It was a testament to our commitment to the development of the sport. I want to highlight some cool figures from Pattaya. Our competition streaming picked up tremendous worldwide interest with 1.7000 airings, over 75 channels in over 200 countries. Highlights of the races were reported on BBC World News, BBC 1, Caracol, NBT, CCTV, SBS, Franceinfo, NTV, CTV, and many more. A total of 55 online publications also reported on the event. Additionally, if you live in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, or France, you might have seen clips of the event in metros, gyms, or shopping malls! So, if you want to truly shine on an international stage, ICF World Championship is your platform. The potential exposure equals more sponsorship opportunities for the paddlers.

From a perspective of the sport’s growth, what notable developments did you observe, especially with the emergence of participation from new countries?

Despite challenges within the industry, it’s exciting to witness the surge in new talent showcased in Pattaya, with participants representing a remarkable 51 nations. This influx of participation from countries experiencing a rising interest in paddling underscores the sport’s potential for global expansion. It’s truly inspiring to see stand-up paddleboarding transcending geographical boundaries, fostering a diverse and vibrant community of enthusiasts worldwide.
The industry side people will tell you the market took a hit for various reasons, most common one I hear is that everyone is overstocked. But if you look at the amount of new talent we saw in Pattaya from countries where paddling is booming, that excites me, 51 nations represented!

With over 900 participants in 2023, do you believe it’s possible to surpass that number in 2024?

I certainly think that we can. There are so many paddlers in the United States. I hope we can mobilize the community there and have a festival in Sarasota just like in Pattaya. Sarasota is on a flatwater course which means it may not be exciting to the downwinders but it does mean the competitions will run with most competitive and fair conditions.

Could you provide insights into the 2024 ICF SUP World circuit, which begins next month on the road to Sarasota?

One big news for this year is that we’re introducing rankings for Juniors and Masters age categories. Of course, not all events will offer these rankings. So far, the first event in Italy “Sprint SUP Race” and the “Agios Nikolas” ICF World Cup will have ranking races for all age categories. So, if you are competing in Juniors or Masters, don’t forget to register for those events!

Could you remind us the distinction between a World Ranking event and a World Cup, and their respective implications for qualification to the ICF SUP Worlds?

World ranking race points count 75 percent while World Cups are worth 100 percent. World Cups have higher prize money requirements and should be more competitive. This year, we have one World Cup scheduled in Greece, in the beautiful location of Agios Nikolaos. From what paddlers have told me, this competition will be very competitive and fun.

The European Canoe Federation (ECA) is organizing a European championship in June, although not directly affiliated with the ICF. Would you care to comment on this initiative?

This is also exciting! The ECA championship, as you said is not an ICF event but an affiliate. ECA is a very strong and well-organized institution. I have so much confidence in them to host a great event.

Addressing the issue of board logistics for participants, could you shed light on the steps taken to alleviate this barrier to entry?

After the 2022 Worlds, I put out a survey to see the biggest barrier to entry. As I could have guessed, the number one issue was board logistics. In order to tackle this issue, we’ve stepped up our partnership with Union Paddlers / Sports Camps to provide rental boards and arranging possible board transportation with Prowave. Details of both can be found on the event page. While we do want to continue to deliver professional level competitions for professional athletes, we must also deliver to the everyday paddlers as the beauty of this sport is its accessibility and inclusion. We want to continue to grow the base participants in the sport and hopefully soon have better solutions on how to facilitate this.

Any noteworthy innovations at this year’s ICF SUP World Championships? For instance, the introduction of a 60+ category?

We are not considering 60+ yet but we are still looking into separating the masters. We need more data first. One-design was definitely a Pattaya highlight. I want to pursue where we can with this as it makes sense on so many levels, going back to the previous topic of accessibility. Let’s see!

Outline of the Sarasota Schedule (subject to change):

Sprint Prelim-Heats: November 19th, 20th
Sprint Finals: 22nd
Tech Prelim-Heats: 20th, 21st
Tech Finals: 23rd
Long Distance: 24th

Find out more about the 2024 ICF SUP events here:
www.canoeicf.com/2024-icf-sup-world-ranking-series

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All ICF SUP events are on the TotalSUP event calendar