Community, competition, location: Orkun Küçükemiroğlu on SUP Cup Kemer’s 2026 vision & ICF milestone

Imagine a SUP competition village where the setting, the community and the racing all come together. That is what Kemer, Antalya, Türkiye offers: the Mediterranean stretching out in front, with the pine-covered Taurus Mountains rising dramatically behind it. At Moonlight Beach, a wide shoreline and crystal-clear waters provide a spectacular backdrop for an event that brings together both the recreational and competitive sides of SUP.

That sense of community is at the heart of the SUP Kemer Festival, driven by a grassroots approach to developing the sport in Türkiye. Behind the event is Founder and Race Director Orkun Küçükemiroğlu, himself part of the SUP community, who has helped shape the festival into a meeting point for paddlers of all levels. We caught up with Orkun to learn more about the vision behind the event and his work to support the continued growth of SUP in Türkiye.

The fourth edition of the event, now titled the SUP Cup Kemer 2026: ICF World Ranking & Festival Race, returns to Moonlight Beach in Antalya from 28 – 31 October 2026, marking a new milestone for Türkiye’s biggest SUP event as it joins the official ICF SUP World Ranking circuit.

Organised by All Together Türkiye, the Kemer SUP Cup is Türkiye’s first and only international SUP event, welcoming professional athletes and SUP enthusiasts from around the world to compete, connect and experience the spectacular Turkish Riviera.

Now firmly established on the international SUP calendar, the event is putting Kemer and Türkiye increasingly in the spotlight of the global SUP community, while showcasing the region’s natural beauty and growing potential as a destination for sports tourism.

Hi Orkun, welcome to TotalSUP! You’ve been closely involved in developing SUP in Türkiye. How did you first get into SUP and the racing scene, and how would you describe the growth and current state of the SUP community in Türkiye?

Like many people, I discovered SUP out of curiosity. When I first started, there was hardly anyone else on the water. I began by encouraging my friends to try SUP, then I created a network called All Together Türkiye and organized events that brought hundreds of people together on the water. Over time, this movement grew organically and spread to different parts of Türkiye.

Because of my background as an athlete, I felt that SUP needed to develop not only as a recreational activity, but also as a competitive sport. That led me to organize the first SUP race in Türkiye. I then founded Team All Together, Türkiye’s first officially registered SUP sports club, and also took on official roles within the SUP discipline of the Turkish Canoe Federation.

Today, the SUP community in Türkiye is growing rapidly. There are still relatively few racing events, but we now have a much more experienced, sport-focused community with a growing interest in international competition.

What was the original vision behind SUP Cup Kemer? Was it primarily about developing SUP in Türkiye, creating an international race destination in Kemer, or bringing those two ambitions together?

From the very beginning, my goal was to bring these two ambitions together. I wanted to develop SUP racing culture in Türkiye, but I did not want to do it through an event that remained only local.

I believed Kemer had enormous potential to become an international SUP destination thanks to its natural setting, climate and tourism infrastructure.

So I created SUP Cup Kemer as an event where Turkish athletes could compete at an international level, while also giving paddlers from around the world a reason to come and race in Türkiye. Where we are today shows that this original vision was the right one.

The SUP Cup Kemer is now entering its fourth edition, and 2026 marks a major milestone with the event becoming an official ICF SUP World Ranking event. What does this step mean for you and the team behind the event?

For me, this means that the steps we have taken over the past four years are now being recognized at an international level. From the beginning, my focus was not simply on making SUP Cup Kemer bigger, but on raising the quality and standard of the racing every year. Reaching ICF World Ranking Event status in such a short time shows that we have created the right standard.

At the same time, this status makes Kemer an important racing destination not only for Turkish athletes, but also for international paddlers chasing world ranking points. That is why I see 2026 as a real turning point for the event.

Confirmed for the event – Andrey Kraytor, World SUP Champ and Winner of SUP CUP Kemer 2024 | Image source: ICF World SUP Championships

Kemer and the Turkish Riviera provide a spectacular backdrop for the event. What makes this coastline and Moonlight Beach particularly suited to SUP racing?

One of Kemer’s biggest advantages is that it combines spectacular natural scenery with everything needed to host a high-level race. Moonlight Beach offers a wide shoreline, crystal-clear water and an incredible setting with the Taurus Mountains rising directly behind it, creating a very special atmosphere for both athletes and spectators.

The shape of the bay also allows us to design different race formats in the same area, including beach starts, technical buoy turns and courses extending into open water. Kemer’s tourism infrastructure and accessibility are also major advantages for international athletes.

You’ve built the event around a mix of elite racing and accessible competition. How important was it to keep the festival open to amateur paddlers and the wider SUP community as the event has grown?

Keeping that balance has been very important to me from the beginning. I never wanted SUP Cup Kemer to become an event only for elite athletes. I wanted the entire SUP community to feel that there was a place for them.

The World Ranking races give the event a professional and elite level, while the festival races allow amateur paddlers to experience the same atmosphere. I believe one of the best ways to grow SUP is to bring top-level athletes and people who are relatively new to racing together at the same event.

For athletes chasing ICF ranking points, what can they expect from the Technical and Long Races in Kemer – and what makes the conditions here challenging?

Perhaps the hardest part of the 14 km Long Distance race is trying to stay focused while you are surrounded by views of the mythical Mount Tahtalı, the ancient city of Phaselis and the Three Islands! The course is physically demanding, but the scenery makes concentrating on the race itself even more difficult.

The Technical Race features seven buoys and a portage section, making it slightly challenging technically but also a lot of fun. At least when you see the drone footage of yourself racing across turquoise water afterwards, all that suffering feels worthwhile.

The SUP Cup has also become a festival rather than simply a race. What can athletes, families and spectators expect beyond the competition itself this year?

I have never seen SUP Cup Kemer as simply a series of races. This year, athletes and their families can also expect a parade, SUP polo, team races, SUP yoga, sunset DJ sessions and an after party. The boat tour we organize for all participants at the end of the event has also become one of the most popular traditions of SUP Cup Kemer.

My goal is for people to come to Kemer not only to race, but to spend several days experiencing SUP culture together, meeting new people and leaving Türkiye with great memories.

What are you most excited to see when the fourth edition gets underway – and what would make 2026 a successful edition for you?

What excites me most is seeing athletes from different countries standing together on the same start line in Kemer. To see an event that started only four years ago now reach ICF World Ranking level is very special to me.

I would not measure the success of 2026 only by the number of participants. For me, the most important sign of success is that athletes have a great racing experience, leave Kemer with good memories, and say, even before the event is over, “I’ll be back next year.”

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*Images courtesy of SUP Cup Kemer