Victoria Ryzhova and Fernando Pérez win the Mediterraneo SUP Race in Alicante

The 3rd edition of the Mediterraneo SUP Race that was held last weekend in Alicante proved to be one of the most important SUP events in Spain and is bound to grow internationally as soon as next year. As a Long Distance Spanish Cup event, the race scored points within the official circuit of the Spanish Surf Federation as well as the “Circuito Mediterraneo”, one of the most popular and active race series in Spain which takes place on the Costa Blanca and regroups a dozen of events from April until November.  The towns of Alicante, Elche and Santa Pola have joined in this sporting event.
With more than 200 paddlers registered and 40% female participation, the event proved a huge success and was broadcasted live on YouTube for everyone to watch worldwide with a level of production never seen before on the Spanish circuit.

REPLAY of the Mediterraneo SUP Race 2021

On Sunday November 14, one of the most anticipated paddle sup events of the year was held in the Spanish province of Alicante and with a large crowd of paddlers, the 3rd Mediterraneo SUP Race organized by the Club Deportivo Parres together with the support of the Alicante Provincial Council. The event’s technical director, Daniel Parres, says that “the organization has worked hard to consolidate the event as a national and international benchmark and the response we have had from the clubs has been very satisfactory, more than 200 SUP racers registered to the event, a figure that has doubled since the last edition ”. This highlights the growing attendance of Spanish clubs at national events but also international ones – Spain swept entire podiums in the junior races at the ICF SUP Worlds in Hungary back in September.

At nine o’clock in the morning on Sunday the elite race began, on a race course covering 13 kilometers in flat conditions.

Interestingly, not only the Elite were in the spotlight last weekend, but the amateur, the youngest and those over 50 also had their opportunity to demonstrate their skills on a sup race board. In the non-competitive recreational event, called the Rookie race, all fans of this sport could take part on a very accessible 2.5km run, with for sole objective to enjoy the fun and competitive SUP race environment.

In the elite men’s event, Fernando Pérez (01h 26m 12s) of the Cangrejo Moro Club was proclaimed winner, in second place, Portuguese racer Rui Ramos (01h 27m 32s) of the Fluvia de Portugal Club, was followed by Iván de Frutos (01h 27m 42) of the Sports Club Parres. In the Elite womens’, Victoria Ryzhova (01h 52m 12) from the BeWater Club of Santa Pola dominated the race from the beginning and was proclaimed winner, Zoe Remolina (01h 55 42s) finished in second position, followed by Mar Bascuñana (01h 55m 56s), both from the SUP Republic Club of Alicante.

The 3rd Mediterraneo SUP Race was a unique event on different levels. One of them is the race course and the participants enjoyed three landscapes along three different cities of the province of Alicante. The start took place in Urbanova, Alicante, then the race passed through the spectacular beaches of Elche located in the Arenales del Sol and the finish line was at Varadero beach in the city of Santa Pola.

As a novelty this year, and with the aim of achieving a greater external projection of the event, the Organization opted for a streaming broadcast through different national and international channels. More than 5 cameras distributed in different locations on land and sea, together with the presence of 2 specialized Spanish commentators of this sport, ensured that all those who remained connected to these channels were informed at all times of the particularities of this sport and lived very close the entire test together to the competitors.

Another very important feature has been the promotion of real gender equality. Since the race was conceived, equality has been an obvious choice, from the poster design announcing the race to the prizes awarded to the winners, Men and Women were given the same treatment with a Prize Money of 1,500 Euros distributed among the Elite winners.

The 3rd Mediterraneo SUP Race had the support of sponsors and collaborators to make it a big success, including Starboard, Teralco Group, Álaves, Nauticmar, Quickblade and E-Estudio among the main ones.