Gold Medal for South Africa
Tuesday 26 November 2019 South African Tyra Buncombe powered to gold in the women's prone distance paddleboard division at the ISA World SUP Champs, surviving scorching weather in El Salvador yesterday.
SUP SPOT: The Parade of Nations walks past quite a kiff looking break. Photo ISA / Reed
Buncombe, who hails from Cape Town, was crowned champion after winning a tough 18km race in scorching hot and humid conditions at Playa El Tunco, on the Pacific coast. In a day of high drama, numerous competitors in both the Woman’s Stand Up Paddleboard, as well as the Woman’s Prone Paddleboard Races, completed the three-lap course incorrectly and were disqualified.
The 21-year-old South African was furthest along the course when the three hour limit was reached to earn the Gold Medal. France’s Camile Rosa Perotteau earned Silver and Argentina’s Daniela Spais the Bronze. With the rest of the field disqualified, no athlete was left to claim the Copper Medal position.
Her win was made even more impressive by the fact that she was paddling an unfamiliar paddleboard borrowed from the English team. Logistical problems to get her board to El Salvador meant that she was unable to train or familiarise herself with the course since arriving five days ago.
RUNNING ON GOLD: Tyra Buncombe runs up after the paddle board race. Photo ISA / Reed
Her brother, Ethan Buncombe, took seventh in the Men's Distance Prone Race. Earlier, Dylan Frick was unable to qualify for the semi-finals in the Men's Sprint race but took equal 9th in the discipline, while Kara Doyle was equal seventh in the Women's Sprint race.
The 2019 Surf City El Salvador ISA WSUPP Championships began on November 24 and ends on December 2. It includes various SUP and Prone Paddleboard Race Disciplines as well as SUP Surfing.
The six member South African Team are competing against 150 athletes from 27 countries in the eighth edition of the event. In 2018, Tarryn King from Cape Town became the first South African Gold Medallist at the event when she won the Woman’s Stand Up Paddleboard 200m Sprint Race.
More information available at www.isasurf.org
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EYES ON THE PRIZE: Fluids are key during a gruelling 18km open ocean paddle. Photo ISA / Reed
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