Alexia Soto and Iván de Frutos win the 2022 Gran Carrera del Mediterraneo in Spain

The 4th edition of the Gran Carrera del Mediterrano (ie the Great Mediterranean Race) will undoubtedly be remembered for its high participation with more than 200 SUP Racers on the starting line, highlighting once again that Spain is currently at the forefront of the development of the sport in Europe. Santa Pola and the province of Alicante in particular, with 4 or 5 SUP race clubs within a perimeter of 200 kilometers with more than 100 members, half of whom are under 18. Organized by 5-time 50+ ICF World Champion Daniel Parres (also a former international windsurfer athlete) and the Parres Watersports club, which also hosted this year, the immensely successful 2022 World SUP Festival and will co-organize the 1st Alicante SUP Open, part of the APP World Tour, all the participants were in good hands.

Following the passage of Hurricane Dana which left abundant rains and strong winds on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, the last long-distance race of the Mediterranean SUP Race Circuit offered the 200 SUP racers optimal conditions. The Elite and SUB 18 categories covered a 13 km route from the town of Urbanova to Varadero beach in Santa Pola. The rest of the categories had different routes closer to the event area, next to the event area where the finish line for the running competition route departing from Alicante is also located.

In the Men’s and Women’s Elite & Sub18 race, the show was unmistakenly stolen by some the youngest competitors who showed great paddling skills along with other leaders in this sport.

In the men’s categories, Iván de Frutos put in one of his best performances of the year, taking first place in both the Overall ranking and the SUB 18 division, ahead of one of the best Spanish riders, 2022 ISA SUP Worlds participant Rafa Sirvent. Also impeccable was the performance of Daniel Parres, organizer of the event, who once again proved his great experience in reading the sea as well as his great physical condition, obtaining third place overall and first Kahuna.

The women’s race also gave way to a great battle on the water, with an unstoppable Alexia Soto adding another huge brick to her progression in the sport, achieving like Ivan de Frutos first place in both the general ranking and the U18 division. Vicky Rizhova, a great connoisseur of this event, took the second position ahead of young rider Andrea Veracruz. Once again, three spectacular performances by the youngest Spanish athletes, resulted from the work conducted by Spanish clubs throughout Spain.

Paulino Roca and Nana García were the winners in the category with the largest participation, the Promo/Amateur division, which covered 5 km along the coast of Santa Pola, the same as the SUB 16 category with Inés Blin and Pablo Carbonell climbing to the top of the podium. Rubén Cantoral and Nuria Chiquero got the first places in SUB 14, as did Rodrigo García and Daniela Andreu in SUB 12, and Eric Perez and Mar Caudeli in SUB 10.

The Gran Carrera del Mediterraneo ended with the awards ceremony in a great festive atmosphere and with many raffles for all participants. Congratulations to the work once again done by the Parres Watersports team with the support of the Provincial Council of Alicante, Deportes Alicante, Santa Pola City Council, Elche City Council, the Spanish Surf Federation and more.

Full Results of the 2022 Gran Carrera del Mediterraneo

Elite + SUB 18 Women

Elite + SUB 18 Men

For more results, visit: www.crono4sports.es/clasificacion/1378/
For more information or to join Parres Watersports in Santa Pola, go to:
http://www.parreswatersports.com/