In any sport, one rule stands firm: you’ve got to earn your spot. And Katniss Paris, former aerial circus performer turned pro SUP athlete and Infinity SUP Speed Freak, did just that by delivering a standout 2024 season and capping it off with the ultimate prize, the ICF World SUP Sprint title, claimed on home turf in Orlando, Florida.
Throughout 2024, her speed and overall performance across major European events, including podium finishes at The Spring SUP Race (2nd in Tech) and Agios Nikolaos on SUP 2024 (3rd in Tech Race, 3rd in LD), showcased an athlete built for the top.
She’s wasted no time making her mark on the 2025 season, kicking things off with a podium finish (3rd place) at the first stop of the EuroTour. Fierce and hungry, she recently took to social media with a bold declaration – she’s coming for it all:
“Time for this tiger to eat! Already taking names in 2025. I’ve been called a dark horse, and I love it! I’m like a tiger breathing down your neck. After Worlds, everyone knows what I can do—now they know even more. You can see it coming. I love the hype, I love turning heads. I’m coming for it all!”*
TotalSUP caught up with Katniss between her travels to discuss her journey, joining the Infinity SUP fam, and to see if the SUP world is ready for a shake-up.
Photo by Mario Entero | The EuroTour 2025
Hi Katniss, you had the whole SUP world watching since your amazing performance during the 2024 season opener in Europe – The Spring SUP Race. And now you’re the ICF World Sprint SUP Champion! This has not happened by accident! What were the toughest and most rewarding moments in your 2024 SUP journey?
I had my fair share of mistakes and bad luck over the year but I remained consistent and persistent throughout and really tried to trust that the training would work its magic. I also had some times I couldn’t train as consistently as I had wanted with travel and other life difficulties so I had some big gaps and lost a little fitness through some of that time, I think it definitely impacted my performance but I picked right back up as soon as I could each time. I still turned out a top result by the end of the year by a huge margin. Goes to show keep going regardless of challenges, we all have them and it’s most important to do what you can when you can and stay consistent. Don’t stress too much.
Of course the most rewarding moment this year was winning my Sprint World Title and the experience of attending my first World Championship event! It means a lot to me personally, I had plenty of people who were detractors early on in my life. I had a firey spirit with zero quit, and some people really wanted to crush that and did their best to try.
Katniss with Dave Boehne of Infinity SUP celebrating her Gold Medal in Sprints | Photo courtesy of Katniss Paris
But, I always still had this feeling I would be great at something, I didn’t know what it was but always felt some day it was going to happen. I kept doing me regardless what anyone thought, said, or did. I was able to show what’s possible if you believe in yourself and don’t quit! And that is a really amazing feeling. I really hope my story can inspire others to follow their dreams, remain persistent, and keep confidence in themselves and their dreams of success.
Could you tell us how did you get into the competitive SUP racing scene?
A friend offered me to come out and paddle with her in late 2016 in Michigan. First on some plastic rental boards and I didn’t like it that much, but later she called back and asked if I wanted to go again on her new rec and race style boards and I said yes. I fell in love and quickly bought a race sup. I had zero intention of ever racing and did not believe that I would be good at the sport anyway, but the girl who sold it to me convinced me to try it.
I hadn’t even heard of it before so, what the heck, I said. I did two 5ks a couple weeks after I bought my board and won them. I ended up winning the first 10k I tried as well and it was then I realized I might actually be good at this sport and also really enjoy racing. And I set my sights consistently higher ever there after.
Photo courtesy of Katniss Paris
Who or what has been your biggest source of support throughout your journey, and how have they influenced your success?
I can’t name just one person or thing because it takes a whole community to build something like this. No one individual can do it all, everyone contributes what they can and in different ways. My Coach Adam Pollock of the Optimal Paddle Sports. My family.
Also Infinity helped in a big way to make my year possible. Countless friends and good people in the SUP community, I could never list them all. You can’t take a journey like this without help and without good people, they mean so much to me. My competitors as well, even those that I’m not personally close with, without that kind of talent to push me in competition I would never discover my own talent. I have a ton of gratitude for all these people, it wouldn’t be the same without them.
Photo by Marco Messingfeld | The EuroTour 2025
Behind the scenes of your training… Could you tell us about your SUP specific training and about your Coach?
My training is customized specifically to target particular upcoming events. My focus for the Worlds was on the sprints so the training leading up to it was geared towards that. Starts, finishes, power, timing. For Germany of course it incorporated 180 degree turns, and as much choppy water as I could find on the flat lakes of Orlando.
My Coach Adam, is really great at tailoring training to an individual, especially individuals like myself that don’t do well on a traditional plan. He’s incredibly intuitive to what each athlete needs to succeed. His coaching emphasis is on biomechanics and fundamentals, which facilitates much lower risk of injury. The plans he provides are intelligently structured to get the most out of each session and training overtime.
It’s been a great fit for me, and I’ve tried a lot of other things that didn’t work before I found him. Off the water he’s a master instructor, with a background of training other instructors, so I really feel like I am getting the best expert coaching both on and off the water.
I also get my nutritional advice from the ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) and that’s been extremely helpful as well. All scientifically studied and tested so you can be sure you are getting legitimate advisement that’s real. They are the pinnacle of sports nutrition science.
We’ve seen you on a sprint canoe after the Worlds… Could you tell us more about it?
I tried one the first time in OKC in 2022 and fell in love with it. Had searched for over two years to find my own boat and I have literally just begun paddling it after worlds. It’s very similar to SUP but also very challenging which keeps me interested and engaged. It’s been a great addition to my training. We will see where it goes, I’m sure I will race it some day soon.
Image courtesy of Katniss Paris
The Infinity Team… How does it feel to join the Infinity SUP #speedfreaks and represent one of the raddest brands in the SUP world?
This is the dream! They are my favourite brand and favourite boards, I fell in love with the Infinity Blackfish model the very first time I set foot on one. Dave Boehne is such a great guy, everyone in his business is and they have family business values that I really support.
The team is absolutely LIT with so many strong paddlers who are also cool people. I am grateful every day that I get to be a part of this team. Couldn’t ask for something better. Just all around it is absolutely amazing and I am so fortunate to work with such a great team and brand.
How do you hope to contribute to the team and inspire others in the SUP community?
As far as for the competitive team I think I can contribute a ton in the way of sprint specialties, and I think I’ve been showing I can contribute in a big way in tech as well, and probably some ocean racing in the future.
I hope to inspire others to follow their dreams and have confidence in themselves. Don’t be afraid to be yourself and have fun with things. Always enjoy your journey!
Image courtesy of Katniss Paris
How do you stay motivated, especially during tough training sessions or setbacks?
A big thing for me that’s motivating is challenge. I love a challenge, and I love living into what I say of myself. I’ve always had a very good gage for knowing what I can do and achieve. It’s a fun way to stay motivated for me. So I am not always particularly humble, I have a high degree of confidence and occasionally add a little fire and spice now and then, which definitely makes things very interesting and exciting for fans and spectators, and it’s a lot of fun!
I play it for the long game, there’s always losses and setbacks it’s important to not lose sight of the future goal over some temporary circumstances or setbacks. Moving forward, always.
Also a love of actually paddling and enjoying watersport is imperative. Without that, what are you even doing. So if you love it. Go for it!
What are your thoughts on the current state of Women’s SUP?
It seems like things are heading in a very positive direction. We’re getting more women competing again and a more diversified array of race types as well. We now are seeing Olympic style sprints, technical races, tech style sprints and flat water and open ocean races. I hope to see more ocean tech races, sprints and perhaps different lengths of sprints in the near future, maybe one day we could have 50m 100m 200m and 500m SUP sprints in a similar fashion as canoe and kayak. I think we’re going in a really positive direction.
We shouldn’t be forgetting about the regular every day paddlers, having events and things for them as well, that is the true supporting body of our sport, us as professional athletes can peak interest in the sport but there will never be enough of us in any sport to support the sport itself, that comes from the community of sport and ALL its people.
What advice would you give to other newcomer paddlers dreaming of joining the competitive SUP racing scene?
Get race equipment fitted for you. If it doesn’t fit you you’ll struggle and it won’t be fun or enjoyable. Get quality equipment, the cheap stuff is junk and you won’t enjoy it to nearly the same extent, and if you get serious you’re going to have to replace it with something better anyways, so why not just start there? Get some professional coaching from someone like my Coach Adam to get you started and make sure you avoid unnecessary injuries from improper use of your body’s mechanics.
Photo source: Agios Nikolaos on SUP 2024
Your SUP plans for 2025…
I am really excited for 2025. Already this year has been off to an explosive start! I will continue chasing excellence and level up my training and skillet, I still have lots of room to improve there.
Ideally, secure another World Sprint title or two? Race as many top events as I can make happen. Sprints, tech races, some ocean racing perhaps. A big one for me is Agios Nikolaos on SUP in Greece, I really love that event and Mikhalis Farsaris does an amazing job of putting it together.
I will be hosting some training camps with my coach in various places around the world, including sprint and tech specific training. And there may be some collaboration on these clinics with some other world champions as well. It’s currently all in the works.
And just enjoying life, travels, and the amazing friendships I’ve made and continue to make arround the world. That is really a very cool experience that I’m eternally grateful I get to have.
Thank you for your time Katniss – Here’s to an epic 2025!
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