ISA announces El Salvador the host of 2019 World SUP and Paddleboard Championship

>> PRESS RELEASE by the ISA <<

The International Surfing Association (ISA) has just announced that the 2019 ISA World StandUp Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC) will take place in El Salvador from 23rd November  – 1st December 2019.

France’s Olivia Piana earned her first ISA Gold in the Women’s SUP Distance race at the 2018 WSUPPC. Photo: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

El Salvador to become the SUP Capital of the World

SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, and Paddleboard Racing will take place at the country’s renowned righthand point break El Sunzal. The event will be designated as the ‘Surf City El Salvador’ ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship to highlight its role in El Salvador’s long-term strategy to promote its world-renowned surfing destinations.

2019 will mark the 8th consecutive year that the ISA has run the World Championship, crowning the first World Champions in 2012 in Peru.

Succeeding editions of the event were held across four continents in Peru (2013), Nicaragua (2014), Mexico (2015), Fiji (2016), Denmark (2017), and China (2018), exemplifying the universal appeal of the sport.

The 2018 Men’s SUP Distance Race hits the water in Hainan, China. Photo: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

SUP gains momentum in the Olympic Movement under ISA leadership

The WSUPPC is the premiere and only World Championship for the disciplines of SUP Racing and Surfing, having crowned undisputed World Champions in the sport since the event’s 2012 inauguration.

Record participation was reached in 2017 when 286 athletes from 42 nations descended upon the waterways of Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as the country’s rugged northwest coast known as Cold Hawaii.

In 2018 Team Australia continued their domination in the event, earning their sixth Team Gold Medal over the event’s seven editions.

Individual Gold Medals were earned by global stars such as Brazil’s Luiz Diniz (SUP Surfing), Australia’s Shakira Westdorp (SUP Surfing), USA’s Candice Appleby (SUP Technical Race), Hungary’s Daniel Hasulyo (SUP Technical Race), France’s Olivia Piana (SUP Distance Race), and Australia’s Michael Booth (SUP Distance Race), among others.

2018 also marked the first edition that the event crowned Junior SUP Racing World Champions, as USA’s Jade Howson (Girls) and Ryan Funk(Boys) swept the Gold Medals for their nation.

Under ISA leadership, SUP has gained momentum in the Olympic Movement with inclusion in several multisport events.

Most recently, as part of the ISA governance of SUP, it celebrated its most significant Olympic Movement inclusion to date by joining the Sports Programme of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

USA’s Connor Baxter and Brazil’s Lena Ribeiro took the respective Men’s and Women’s Gold Medals in an epic SUP race at Lima’s famed break of Punta Rocas.

Colombian siblings, Izzi and Giorgio Gomez, took the SUP Surfing Gold Medals.

“We are proud to continuing gathering the world’s best SUP and Paddleboard athletes and crown World Champions,” said Fernando Aguerre, the ISA President . “The sport of StandUp Paddle is riding a wave of global momentum as it continues to be one of the world’s fastest-growing water sports. SUP has gained inclusion in key Olympic Movement multi-sport games thanks to efforts by the ISA. Our vision is to continue developing and growing the sport until one day it arrives to the world’s greatest sporting stage, the Olympic Games. I am looking forward to watching the world’s best compete for Gold on the beautiful, tropical coast of El Salvador. The perfect waves and beautiful scenery will make for an edition to remember.”

“We are excited to partner with the ISA for this World Championship. Hosting the Surf City El Salvador ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship is part of a national strategy of this Government to promote and highlight the excellent surfing destination that our country has to offer. The waves are one of the country’s most valuable assets, a resource that never runs out and promotes healthy living and respect of the environment.” said Morena Ileana Valdez Vigil, Minister of Tourism for El Salvador.

To find out more, visit www.isasurf.org