Road to Sarasota: Prepare for the 2024 ICF SUP Worlds in Florida

As the 2024 SUP racing season reaches its midpoint, we sit down with Hoichan Kwon, head of SUP Racing at the International Canoe Federation (ICF). Reflecting on a thrilling first half of the year, Hoichan highlights the successful integration of opportunities for juniors and the significant turnout at key events, such as the Spring SUP Race and the Lake Rocks Festival. With two major events on the horizon—the ICF World Ranking event in Sweden and the ICF SUP World Cup in Crete, Hoichan previews what participants can expect. As the season culminates in the highly anticipated ICF SUP World Championships in Sarasota, Florida, this November, we discuss course details, event logistics, and the spirit of inclusivity that has been defining ICF SUP events. Welcome, Hoichan!

Hello Hoichan, as we gear up for event #3 of the 2024 ICF SUP circuit in Sweden, could you please share your views on how the first part of the season has gone and the big international battles that have taken place already?

Thank you Mathieu. All our race organizers have done a great job thus far. I am very proud of each of them for growing their events year by year. We introduced more opportunities for juniors this year which is reflected in the registrations. We’ve been slow with putting the rankings up but rest assured, all you juniors and masters will have ICF world rankings!

Elite women at the 2024 Spring SUP Race – ICF stop #1 in Italy

The Spring SUP Race and the Lake Rocks Festival had a large turnout of athletes, ranging from as young as 7 to as old as 65. The influence of the ICF on multi-category racing seems to be very successful. Can you comment?

I’d like to say congratulations to Simone Tugnoli Peron for the Spring SUP Race and Gerd Weisner for the Lake Rocks Festival. I’ve always said the beauty of SUP is its inclusivity and accessibility. We’re just highlighting just that. We welcome paddlers of all levels and promote safe paddling worldwide.

The first ECA European SUP Championship also took place last month in Hungary, with significant international attendance. How do you view this new initiative by the ECA? Do the ICF and ECA work together?

Noemi (ed. Horvath) did a fantastic job organizing the inaugural ECA championships. ECA (ed. European Canoe Association) is one of our continental representatives, which means ECA events are not technically ICF. However, they’re required to use ICF rules and regulations. So, we always work together on how to improve our sport. I hope the success of this event leads to more continental championships, providing more platforms for people all over the world to participate in ICF format races, and become more familiar with the ICF.

Noemie Horvath at the 2024 ECA European Championships in Hungary

There are two more ICF races to go before the 2024 ICF SUP Worlds in Sarasota, Florida: Sweden and Greece. Can you briefly present both events from the ICF’s perspective?

We only have one World Cup this year in Agios Nikolaos, on the Greek island of Crete on September 27-29. Mikhalis Farsaris is such a veteran race organizer there, it’s such a pleasure working with him. Participants from last year still talk about how beautiful that venue was and have told all their friends to join this year. I went to visit him in May and indeed, the venue they have there is a paradise. Everyone should book their ticket now and plan a weeklong vacation after the competition.

Tommy Dee Packendorff in Sweden as well has been running the Skrea Strand Paddle Race in Falkenberg for many years. The feedback I get from paddlers is that this event is just cool. The overall event is very inclusive with kids race and fun race on top of the ranking races. On August 9-12, We expect the weather to be perfect in Falkenberg and are very excited for this event. Special shoutout to Danny from the Swedish Canoe federation who is heavily involved/supportive of this event.

Skrea Strand Paddle Race 2023 – Falkenberg, Sweden

Getting your board to either event is not easy. Go find out how to make your travel easier by visiting the Union Paddlers page for rental boards!

Moving on to the 2024 ICF SUP Worlds – can you please provide the course specifications and racing modalities for each of the three main disciplines?

Firstly, all racecourses are on the regatta course, which is a lake specifically built for rowing and canoeing. So, this will be disappointing to those downwinders. However, this will mean that we have better opportunity to provide the most competitive and fair courses. First, we were planning to have sprint distance down to 100m to make it even more exciting but that has been changed back to the usual 200m. However, there will be more photo finishes and drama. We are planning to use the automatic start system which will add to the excitement. There will be opportunities for participants to practice on them during the warmup period (days before races start). Tech, we are trying to fit in a land turn as we did in Qingdao and Pattaya. I expect the course to be around 700-900m. As for the distance, simple 5km laps around the regatta course. We have not done a good job streaming the Long-Distance races before. We will do a much better job this year.

Nathan Benderson Park, Sarasota, Florida

Could you please detail the accommodation and food options available at and around the venue?

There are several official hotels listed on our website. There will be regular shuttle services running from these hotels to the venue. These hotels are quite pricey unfortunately. I hope people can group up and find suitable solutions like a group Airbnb.

How far is the venue from downtown Sarasota and popular beaches?

Downtown is very close by! One of the best beaches in US, Siesta Keys is also close by. They have incredible white sandy beach which everyone must check out.

Siesta Keys beach

Can you remind us who the ICF SUP Worlds are open to and how to register?

As always, all ICF SUP events are open to everyone. if you have a passion for paddling then come join us! It will be a big festival celebrating our beloved sport.

All you have to do now is register here:
Paddleguru > ICF SUP Worlds 2024
Official Website:
Canoe ICF > ICF SUP Worlds 2024
Rent your gear:
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