Flying Dutchwoman Janneke Smits Set for Record Attempt!

Next week is an exciting time at 3 Bay with 4 Guinness World Record events being attempted,there will be four attempts on Lake Aiguebelette in the Savoy, France. The four attempts will be –

• Greatest distance by Stand up Paddleboard on Flatwater in 24 hours by a male with Florent Dode. He will attempt to beat the 194.7 km record on a brand new 3 Bay Flatwater 18’ x 22’’.
• Greatest distance by Stand up Paddleboard on Flatwater in 24 hours by a female with Janneke Smits. She will attempt to beat the 178 km record on her 3 Bay Flatwater 14’.
• Greatest distance by Stand Up Paddleboard Tandem on Flatwater in 24 hours – Sebastien Le Meaux and Stephane Le Blond on a new Tandem, still about to be finish at 3 Bay, of 20’ long.
• Greatest distance on Prone Paddleboard on Flatwater in 24 hours Mathieu Chevalier, on his 3 Bay 12’ Prone Paddle.

Not shy of pushing the boundaries and spending vast amount of time on her board, Dutch paddler Janneke Smits is ideally suited to the 24hr attempt! TotalSUP talks to female paddler Janneke Smits on her attempt in breaking the record.

I started my own SUP-school in 2013 and started racing in 2014. I have won alot of long distance races, including 1st place  SUP11city in the 5-day race (2014),  and then I took 3rd place in 2015. Then in 2015 I became the Dutch National long distance champion. Then in 2016 and 2017 I won 1st place female at the SUP-11city NON-stop race. I have also won the Dordogne Integrale two years in a row in 2017 and 2018, and finally I was the 1st placed female in the 24 hr race in Killarny Spain.

I will try to set a new world record for 24 hr paddling because I really like having a personal physical and mental challenge in the same discipline, and to achieve this is in one discipline is not very common, and this is my first attempt at this record.

To be honest my preparation could be better. I had a winter without any SUP training and since I have made my decision to do the attempt my SUP-school got busy with so many requests because of the exceptionally good weather so I have had barely no time to train properly. So, in fact I have had a lot of time on the water but just not for training.  I am conscious that my weakness during the attempt might be my neck, as after the birth of my oldest daughter it has become very sensitive.

For my attempt I will use my 3-Bay flatwater 14’ x 23” board which Patrice constructed for me last year. We have already had a few adventures together, and I would like to add this attempt to the list. Furthermore, I will use my SupR pacer pro lite paddle, SKINS compression clothing. For nutrition I will drink a lot of water, eat bread with peanut butter plus have some tailwind nutrition powder. The aim is to keep it as simple as possible and try to not to get too nervous.