SUP Surf Final Day

SUP Snap: Justin Bing. Photo ISA / Tweddle

The 2014 Men’s and Women’s SUP Surfing Gold Medalists will be decided today, the last Day of the SUP Surfing portion of the 2014 ISA World StandUp Paddle and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC) in Nicaragua.

Justin Bing looks strong for a medal after fighting his way into Round 4 of the main event. South Africa’s Brandon Ribbink is sadly out of the event after a third place in his Repercharge Round 4 heat. Tarryn Kyte dropped to the Repechage Round 4 today in a tough heat, but is determined to make her country proud and win a medal.

Justin and Tarryn will appear on the The Morning Show webcast today at 7:40am (4.40pm SA time) hosted by Beau Hodge.

The SUP Surfing competition continued yesterday, Day 2 of the ISA WSUPPC with excellent performances from the best men and women SUP Surfers in very contestable waves in La Boquita, Nicaragua.

SUP Slide: Tarryn Kyte. Photo ISA / Gonzales

The surf conditions in La Boquita offered long rides, allowing the surfers to perform a variety of maneuvers. The surf remained contestable in the 2-3 feet range, with bigger sets during the favorable high tide in the morning and late afternoon. With the low tide at 12:30pm, contest organizers decided to take a two-hour break, to allow the surfers to take advantage of the best surf on offer.

“Today was one of the most exciting small wave SUP Surfing days in competition I have ever watched!,” remarked an elated ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “Tuesday, the Final Day of the SUP Surfing competition is going to be a spectacular day as the surf is expected to get bigger. The competition has reached its most critical stage, as the new Men’s and Women’s SUP Surfing World Champions will be crowned. I wish the best of luck to all of the competitors.”

Day 2 started with Qualifying Rounds 3 of Men and Women SUP Surfing. The standouts of the round were France´s Jeremy Massiere and Emmy Merrill, from USA. Massiere, the French National SUP runner-up, posted the highest heat total score of the round, earning 11.40, defeating Poenaiki Raioha (TAH, 9.80), Tamil Martino (PER, 8.80) and Lucas Medeiros (BRA, 6.20). Merril, the 2012 ISA WSUPPC Gold Medalist posted 11.27, the highest total heat score of the Round, to defeat Iballa Ruano (SPA, 7.83) and Tarryn Kyte (RSA, 6.63).

SUP Slash: Brandon Ribbink. Photo ISA / Gonzales

Up next, the Repechage Round took place and the first competitors were eliminated from the event. The standout of the round was the 2013 ISA Men’s SUP Surfing Gold Medalist, USA’s Sean Poynter, who managed to post the highest total heat score and individual wave of the event, so far, of 16.40 and 9.33 respectively.

“Yesterday was a shock for me, I didn’t link with any waves,” said Poynter. “I wanted to turn it around today, so I put out my best, got some waves under my belt and raised the score lines. I’m not done yet, I still have a lot more surfing to do ahead of me to make it to the final round, but I’m feeling good and looking forward to tomorrow.”

In the Women´s Repechage, the 3-time Australian SUP National Champion, Shakira Westdorp posted the highest heat total score of the round, 11.50, to defeat Costa Rica’s Jenny Kalmbach (4.97) and Holly Bassett (2.37) from Great Britain.

Full list of results http://isawsuppc.com/results/
Live webcast http://isawsuppc.com/live/

Day 3, will begin with The Morning Show at 7:40am hosted by Beau Hodge and will feature South Africa team members Justin Bing and Tarryn Kyte, followed by the competition with:

2 heats of Men’s Repechage 5
2 heats of Men’s Qualifying 4
2 heats of Women’s Repechage 4
2 heats of Men’s Repechage 6
1 heats of Men’s Qualifying 5
1 heats of Women’s Qualifying 4
1 heats of Women’s Repechage 5
1 heats of Men’s Repechage 7
1 heats of Women’s Repechage Final
1 heats of Men’s Repechage Final
Final Women
Final Men