KZN HOSTS A WORTHY SA SUP CHAMPS 2025

KZN HOSTS A WORTHY SA SUP CHAMPS 2025

by | Jun 13, 2025 | Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing

SPRINT RACING

REPORT BY MURRAY JAMES

​The 2025 East Coast Challenge & SA SUP Champs had a great kick off on Friday evening, 30th May  at the Point Canals with some night sprint races. The gusting Westerly wind failed to deter the sprinters who had travelled from as far as Gauteng and the Western Cape to compete against their KZN rivals.

The winners of the men’s and ladies’ events were Capetonians Dylan Frick and Tarryn King.

KZN still held their own, with three of the top six spots going to local KZN paddlers.

Jackie de Billot, Lande Swemmer, Dave Maxwell & Murray James completed the sprint podium positions.

SUP SURF CONTEST

On Saturday morning, the paddlers made their way to North Beach to compete in the SUP surfing event. With sunny skies and small but clean surf, the competitors had to work hard to showcase their skills – and the Western Cape’s Tarryn King and Dylan Frick once again secured themselves first place positions.

Matt Maxwell, Brandon Ribbink & Peter Cambanis rounded out the men’s podium, with Danica Bartho & Jackie de Billot on the ladies’ podium.

DISTANCE & TECH RACES

Sunday morning again brought sunny skies, low wind and perfect ocean conditions for racing.

8:30am saw the start of the 10km distance race, followed by the 5km fun race.

Conditions made for a gruelling 10km with little assistance from wind or swell –  KZN’s Matt Swemmer, Murray James, Jackie de Billot & Lande Swemmer secured positions in the top six.

Winners again were the dominant Tarryn King and Dylan Frick.

Janette James won the 5km race followed closely by Jess Jansen van Rensburg and Raeesah Vawda.

After a short break the course was reconfigured for the Technical Race which started just after 11am. This challenging course saw competitors having to paddle parallel to the bumpy swell created by the draining tide coming over Vetches reef.

Tops spots went to Dylan Frick, Henco Scholtz and Matt Swemmer in the men’s race, and Tarryn King, Lande Swemmer & Jackie de Billot in the ladies’ race.

The organisers would like to thank DUC as main sponsor, as well as for providing invaluable logistic support and water safety.

Huge thanks also to The PumpSmith for their sponsorship.

CLICK HERE FOR: Distance race results

CLICK HERE FOR: Technical race results

King Of The Bay 2024

King Of The Bay 2024

by | Jun 27, 2024 | Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

REPORT BY MURRAY JAMES

This year’s annual King of the Bay race in Durban took place under sunny skies with a low wind, and paddlers had to work against the clock to finish before the predicted heavy Westerly arrived.

With roadworks at the port entry, the organisers had a land-based race of their own. They were pressed for time to exit the harbour, make their way across the city and to arrive at the finish line on the beach before the first paddlers did. They made it in the end – arriving just in the nick of time. The race was well attended by SUPs, surf-skis and even a surfboat, which was first to set out, followed by the SUPs and then the surf-skis.

The busily-working harbour also provided some thrills, with paddlers having to contend with ships leaving the harbour and the inevitable churn from ships and tugboats.

The woman’s race was won by a charging Lande Swemmer, followed by Jacqui de Billot in second and Jutta Dedekind taking third on an inflatable race-board, the first time someone had completed the race on an inflatable!

Murray James came first in the men’s race, followed by newcomer Ralph Jansen in second and Mike Holland in third.

A fantastic, challenging race was had by all, and a huge thank-you goes out to the organisers who are always keen to include SUP’s and other disciplines in what is traditionally a surfski race, as well as making sure everything ran flawlessly.

COVID-19: Beaches are open again

by | Feb 6, 2021 | ISA, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Surfing, Uncategorized

MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday February 2nd, 2021
Surfing South Africa President welcomes the opening of beaches
Surfing South Africa President, Johnny Bakker has welcomed the announcement by President Ramaphosa that all beaches in South Africa are open once again.
“On behalf of Surfing South Africa and all recreational, social and competitive surfers and surfriders we are happy to be able to enter the ocean again and surf” said Bakker. South Africa’s surfriding fraternity also includes surf shops, surf schools, surf coaches, all of which have been hard hit by the month long beach closures.
Not only has Olympic qualifier Bianca Buitendag been unable to prepare for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics but  professional and competitive surfers from all parts of South Africa have been unable to train for an extended period.
In addition, over 20,000 recreational and social surfriders have also been prevented from exercising in the ocean.
The lifting of the beach ban is effective immediately and in order for the beaches to remain open, all surfriders are reminded to adhere to Covid -19 protocols which include mask wearing prior to surfing and upon returning after a surf, adhering to social distancing and to not gather in groups at beaches and surf venues. All surfriders and beach users are requested to adhere to these basic protocols at all times.
Issued by
Surfing South Africa

Stand Up and Paddleboard at the St Francis Bay, SA S1 Surfski Championship and SA Canoe Marathon Championship 2020

by | Oct 18, 2020 | Prone, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Downwind, SUP Events, SUP Racing, Uncategorized

Yes you heard it! Stand Up and Paddleboards were included in this year’s SA S1 Surfski Championship and SA Canoe Marathon Championship in St Francis Bay. 

 The weekend started with an ocean race on the Saturday. Kit Beaton, Jadon Wessels and Paige Horn were our three proners who took on the grueling 14 km ocean race that greeted the paddlers with great southerly winds. Chiara Vorster (Junior girl) proved her incredible determination and great training as the only Stand Up Paddle that took on this ocean race. We are incredibly proud of you, Chiara. See the results, below: 

SUP Women 

  • Chiara Vorster – 2:07:49 

Prone Men

  •  Jadon Wessels – 1:51:01
  • Kit Beaton – 1:51:08 

Prone Women 

  • Paige Horn – 1:58:28

Sunday brought on the Canoe Marathon/ Flatwater Race that SUPSA selected as a sanctioned event for their annual calendar. Our paddlers were getting ready to take on the last batch in the race. The team were met with blue skies, light winds and a great winding course, set to meander between the houses with plenty of technical turns, hidden poles, sand banks and currents under the narrow bridges. The race included two portages on the three lap course (Open Men and Women) and one portage for the two lap course (Junior SUPs and Proners). In both instances the portage was to be skipped on the first lap. This reasoning by the organisers became well understood in the desire to have the field more spread out to avoid congestion and this added an exciting technical aspect to the racing. Each full lap consisted of twists and turns over 4.7 kms and in both race distances there was a short extra loop of around 1 km around the top end of the canal and past the headland to the finish (or Spit as it’s known) and the moves in this part of the race, dubbed “the sausage lap” would invariably define the end results. 

 The Junior paddlers, Cameron, Migael and Chiara could choose between doing the SUPSA distance for the junior category, being 2 laps, or compete with the open category who did 3 laps. Cameron and Chiara opted for the 3 laps with the open men and women and Miggie did the 2 laps with the prones. CSA facilitated and assisted the paddlers with these teething problems, being the first official race with them and it’s something that will no doubt be resolved by the evergreen Anja Burger from SUPSA, whom was on top of matters the whole weekend from her phone in Johannesburg, as was our SUPSA President Mandy Scanlen from Cape Town. A big thanks to them both and in getting us there in the first place and that tons of hard work behind the scenes was brought to fruition!

The SUPs and Prones started at a frenetic pace, really setting the scene for anybody who did not know we actually race. See the results below:

 

Open Men Results 

  • Cameron Tripney – 1:43:50
  • Kimon Dos Santos – 1:44:11
  • Gary Van Rooyen – 1:50:59
  • Thomas King – 1:55:54
  • Craig Girdlestone – 2:03:00

Open Women Results 

  • Tarryn King – 1:55:51
  • Chiara Vorster – 2:02: 59
  • Elmari Renecle – 2:09:33
  • Evette Terblanche – 2:14:04

Junior Boys

  • Migael Terblanche -1:16:27

Prone Men 

  • Connor Botha – 1:13:31
  • Jonny Lucas – 1:16:51
  • Jadon Wessels – 1:19:02
  •  Kit Beaton – 1:19:29 

Prone Women 

  • Paige Horn – 1:40:41
  • Carmel Billson – 1:40:41

We look forward to the next race!

Write up by Steve Tripney.

Great photos by Chris Scott’s Photography. 

Governance of Stand-Up Paddle to the ISA at Olympic Level

by | Aug 9, 2020 | Denmark World Champs, El Salvador World Championships, Fiji World Champs, ISA, Prone, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Downwind, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

The following article is written by ISA News and can be found on the ISA website. 

The ISA today welcomed the landmark decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to award the governance of StandUp Paddle (SUP) to the ISA at Olympic level.

The resolution of this matter is an historic moment for the sport of SUP and the ISA. The ISA has been committed to the global development and promotion of SUP over many years – investing and defending the sport to serve the best interests of the athletes, national federations, local SUP events and all fans.

The CAS award allows the ISA to further focus and fully accelerate the international growth and popularity of the sport, as the International Sport Federation responsible for SUP at the Olympic level.

ISA President, Fernando Aguerre said:

“At the end of this long and difficult paddle, we are both relieved and gratified by this important decision by CAS.  In confirming the ISA’s governance of SUP at the Olympic level, CAS has validated our years of passion, commitment and leadership – from our world champions, to our officials, organizers and member federations.

“The global SUP community can now look forward with clarity in continuing the building of an exciting future for SUP and its athletes. This includes our long-term ambition and plan to see the sport included in the Olympic Programme under the leadership and authority of the ISA.

“For us, there’s never been any question that the governance of SUP at the Olympic level derived rightfully from the history, tradition and culture of surfing.  Today, we feel validation and recognition for all the years of active effort and hard work the committed teams at the ISA and around the world at a national level have invested to ensure SUP’s continued growth.

“Today’s decision is a team gold medal for the sport and the ISA.  We would like to thank all the athletes, officials, ISA member federation leaders and APP World Tour, as well as our legal team at Baer & Karrer, who supported us and stood by us all along the way.”

ISA Vice President Casper Steinfath said: 

“As an active athlete, but also a leader of the ISA, I am truly stoked for this outcome.  At the same time, we are pleased to put this legal process behind us. We are eager to get back to the important priority for all of us in expanding the global opportunities for SUP athletes and the sport.

As we saw at the Pan Am Games last summer in Lima, SUP can add amazing value to multi-sport competitions like the Olympic Games, Youth Olympic Games, and other Continental Games.

“The pathway to these events for the athletes – through the ISA governance and its membership – is now clear.”

“For those of us who love and practice this sport every day, our passion to see SUP thrive globally is completely genuine and comes from our core. Today marks a historic moment for the rightful leadership, promotion and unity of SUP, which will ensure it enjoys an exciting and successful future.”

CAS has issued a press release regarding the award, which can be viewed here.

ICF given all clear to keep running SUP events

by | Aug 9, 2020 | Prone, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Uncategorized

The following article is written by ICF Media and can be found on the ICF website.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has cleared the way for the International Canoe Federation to continue to run Stand Up Paddling events at a national, international and world levels.  

The ICF was vindicated following CAS’s strong rejection of the claim by the International Surfing Association (ISA) that it had the exclusive right to govern Stand Up Paddling.  CAS unanimously found that the ICF was within its rights, as it has always maintained, to develop and nurture stand up paddling activities and competitions worldwide.

The CAS decision follows a long dispute between the ICF and the ISA over the governance of SUP.  It confirms that both the ICF and the ISA can continue to run SUP events.

In an unconventional move, the majority of the CAS panel indicated (with one panel member dissenting) that the ISA should have responsibility for running SUP at Olympic level in the future if SUP is eventually recognised as an Olympic sport.  It is surprising that the CAS panel felt that they could reach such a decision without the involvement of the IOC, as the recognition of an international federation as the administrator of an Olympic sport is traditionally a matter for the IOC.

However, the ICF welcomes the clear statement by CAS that its decision is not binding upon the IOC.  The IOC is ultimately free to make its own decision about who should govern SUP as an Olympic sport, taking account of what is in the best interests of the sport at the relevant time, without being fettered by today’s CAS Award.

Behind the ICF’s vision for SUP and core to this dispute, has been the notion that resources from both international federations can and should be used for the development of the discipline of stand up paddling, to make it an exciting and attractive sport at all levels.

ICF president, Jose Perurena, said the decision presents an opportunity for two Olympic federations to work together to grow a sport.

“We are pleased and feel vindicated that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has recognised the important role the International Canoe Federation has played in the development of stand up paddling and that it is free to continue this role worldwide” Mr Perurena said.

“The CAS decision presents an opportunity for two Olympic federations, the ICF and the ISA, to work together to promote a sport.  SUP is one of the fastest growing and most exciting sports on the planet, and it is the responsibility of both our federations to give it the best possible opportunity to reach its full potential.  We believe that the sport will flourish as a result.”

The decision also means national canoe federations can continue to hold SUP events without any interference or objection from ISA or its national members, which will help the development of the sport at grass root level.

The CAS decision clears the way for the ICF to hold its next SUP world championships, scheduled for Balatonfured in Hungary in 2021 and decide on two future editions which have been put on hold due to the ongoing CAS case.