SUP World Championships start in Abu Dhabi this week

Andrey Kraytor at 2024 ICF SUP World Championships in Sarasota Florida. Photo via ICF Media.

This week, the 2025 ICF SUP World Championships start in Abu Dhabi with more than 400 paddlers from around the globe racing for world titles and personal bests. There will be three types of races: sprints, technical races, and long distance. First up on the schedule: 100 metre sprints.

The best racers in the world are winning at blistering speeds. Andrey Kraytor (BUL), the reigning open men's sprint world champion, set the fastest time at the 2024 world champs in Sarasota, Florida: 23.05 seconds. At a World Cup in Greece earlier this year, he managed to reach a peak speed of 19.9 kph (12.4 mph). He's chasing the 20 kph barrier to discover how fast a paddleboard can really move.

Kraytor is one of the favourites to win the open men's sprint race again this year, but last year's silver medallist Manuel Hoyuela (ESP) will do his best to take the gold. At just 21 years old last year, Hoyuela also podiumed in the technical race and finished 5th in the long distance event. It's rare to see such a high calibre of performance across all 3 events, showing just how good the young Spaniard is.

In the open women's race, American Katniss Paris shocked the SUP racing fandom last year when she won the sprint ahead of the favourite, 2023 sprint world champion Seychelle Webster (USA). Paris was relatively new to SUP racing, but has since repeated similar results and will be looking to successfully defend her title in Abu Dhabi.

Sprint racing starts Wednesday with preliminary rounds and heats, and the sprint finals are scheduled for Friday.

Read all about the top contenders, and learn how to follow along at supracer.com.

Matei Barbu, the 2024 Junior World Champion in Sprint, in Sarasota Florida. Photo via ICF Media.