“We are excited to welcome Anaïs Guyomarc’h to the Blackfish Team. Anaïs is a very gifted young paddler as well as an excellent all-round watersports pro SUP athlete. We have watched her progress over the past couple of years, using our Salish paddle, and it was a natural fit to have her join the team in 2022,” commented David Smart, Founder of Blackfish Paddles, a high-performance SUP paddle brand based in British Columbia. “We are so proud of the amazing female athletes that we sponsor and Anaïs represents our commitment to helping paddlers develop and achieve their athletic goals.”
Photo by Loïc Olivier
Brittany-based, Anaïs Guyomarc’h is a pro stand-up paddleboarding athlete making waves on the European SUP scene since her junior competition starts. With four French Championship titles under her belt and big plans for the upcoming season, at only 20 years old, she’s a force to be reckoned with. TotalSUP caught up with Anaïs to discuss this exciting announcement.
I am very proud to join the Blackfish Team! I love the spirit and the values around this brand. It’s also super exciting for me because I join some very good friends on this team! I’m proud to become a Blackfish teammate of Amandine Chazot and Boris Jinvresse (ha, ha), I’ve always seen them during the races and they have always been an example to follow for me.
Photo by: Surfing France
My father has always practiced watersports. As soon as I was old enough to go on the water he brought me with him. I started with a bodyboard and then did a little bit of surfing. I lived far from the shore when I was younger, so practicing SUP was a way to be on water without being next to the sea or the ocean.
Photo by Loïc Olivier
I spent my first years of paddling mostly on flat water but I have always known that what I wanted to do was more open water. I had the opportunity to move to Brittany (my favourite place) for my studies in psychology where I can fully enjoy downwinding and beach races… I also started to do more surfing.
I have a lot of very good SUP memories, my first races with my dad, my first World Championships as a junior, some beautiful downwind sessions or perfect training … It’s hard to choose one!
Photo by Loïc Olivier
I use the Blackfish Salish 460, and this year I am going to try Salish 500. What I appreciate a lot is the lightness of the paddle, from my experience, these are the lightest paddle I have ever tried!
I think that the choice of the paddle is as important as the choice of the board. With a good paddle you can be efficient and train a lot without getting injuries. The paddle is one of the key factors in your performance.
Photo by Loïc Olivier
Brittany, it is a perfect playground for SUP and many very good riders train here. I compete on the French circuit where we have a lot of female athletes and this is a good thing. This year I had the double French national title, in the technical race and in the long distance.
Photo by Loïc Olivier
I also compete in the EuroTour, I appreciate travelling and meeting people from around the world, the SUP community is super cool and we can meet a lot of different people – it’s super nice!
My top tips would be to spend a lot of time on the water, to work on your stroke technics and to enjoy what you do. The equipment is also important, find the best for you, a board and a paddle with which you feel the glide.
Anaïs taking the win at the Paris SUP Crossing. Photo credit: Raoul Dobremel – AFP & Julien de Rosa – AFP via Nautic Paddle
My plan for the year is to do a lot of races and to travel for it. I will do some races in France, and I will do some of the stops of the EuroTour and the APP World Tour. So excited for this year! And so excited to be part of the Blackfish Team 😊
To find out more about Blackfish Paddles and their progressive, refined, handcrafted designs, visit blackfishpaddles.com
Explore Blackfish new fin range here
Follow Anaïs on Instagram and Facebook
All images courtesy of Anaïs Guyomarc’h
31 Jan 2023
Romuald Mamadou est décidément Ze King de Ze Race. Déjà 4 fois vainqueur en stand up paddle et recordman de l’épreuve guadeloupéenne, connue pour être l’une des plus longues courses de downwind au monde, “Romu” a réitéré samedi dernier non pas sur une planche de SUP Race mais aligné sur la nouvelle discipline dont il […]
12 Dec 2022
“Our Blackfish Nootka blade is a classic shape and a best-selling paddle. We have been working on building a more robust version for a couple years and the breakthrough came with the advent of SUP foiling. We had a number of athletes who had broken paddles while foiling and wanted to find a solution. The result […]
17 Oct 2022
World SUP Champion and the 2022 Yukon River Quest SUP Record Holder Lincoln Dews has joined Blackfish Paddles as the Sales Manager for Australia and New Zealand and the Head of Product Development, announced the Canadian brand specialising in handcrafted, high-performance paddles for SUP, surf and foiling. Lincoln has collaborated with Blackfish Paddles to develop […]
28 Sep 2022
The 7th edition of the Agios Nikolaos on SUP 2022 event held in Agios Nikolaos, a coastal town on the Greek island of Crete, brought the world’s top athletes and local SUP community together to celebrate the sport of stand-up paddleboarding. This year’s event was dedicated to Thanos Karaiskos, the father of SUP in Crete, a […]
15 Sep 2022
The countdown is on to the next exciting SUP racing event, Agios Nikolaos on SUP 2022, held on the 24 and 25 September in Crete. In its 7th edition, this year’s event is dedicated to Thanos Karaiskos, the father of SUP in Crete, a pioneer, who had contributed significantly to the development of the sport in […]
12 Aug 2022
“When I’m in the zone… pain doesn’t seem so bad and my mind is clear and focused,” says Blackfish Paddles Rider Brad Friesen who has just won the Yukon 1000 SUP division completing the challenge in 7 days and 6 minutes, as part of the Pirates of the Yukon squad where he teamed up with Scott […]
10 Jun 2022
I knew this was going to be big, I didn’t know it would be that HUGE! On June 3, 4 and 5, the 3rd edition of the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca was held in Santa Pola, in the region of Alicante, Spain and it did not leave anyone indifferent. Whether on the water, the […]
6 Jun 2022
“Vaïc Garioud hails from New Caledonia and if his name sounds familiar that is because of his older brother Noïc Garioud. Vaïc is a very talented paddler, surfer, foiler and a true lover of all things water. Like Emily Evans who has just joined Blackfish Team, he has been using our paddles for a while but […]
16 May 2022
“We are pleased to announce that Emily Evans has signed a two-year sponsorship agreement with Team Blackfish. Emily hails from Wales and has been using our paddles for a couple of years now. She is a hardworking and gifted endurance athlete who comes to SUP from the triathlon and white water paddling worlds. This is […]
