ISA launches the World Stand Up Paddle Surfing Championship
3 June 2009 – The International Surfing Association (ISA), World Governing Authority for Surfing and all its disciplines, recognized by the International Olympic Committee, is proud to announce the creation of the first ISA World Stand Up Paddle Surfing Championship in history.
Stand Up Paddle Surfing (SUP) is one of the surfing disciplines that has grown in recent years. Known in Hawaiian as Ku Hoe He’e Nalu, it is considered by many as a “new” way of surfing, but its history actually started long before in Hawaii where the Waikiki Beach Boys used to surf with outrigger paddles. They also used SUP to take pictures of the tourists that were learning to surf.By early 2000, Hawaiian surfers, including Dave Kalama, Brian Keualana, Rick Thomas, Archie Kalepa and Laird Hamilton, brought the discipline back to life. In less than ten years the popularity of SUP has reached the waves of every corner of the world.
The ISA is aware of the growth of the sport and would like to honor all SUP Surfers their respective medals, crowning for the first time in history a Stand Up Paddle Surfing World Champion.
ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, one of the masterminds of this initiative commented about the creation of this World Championship: “Stand Up Paddle Surfing (SUP) has had an explosive growth in the last 2 years. It’s a great complement for regular surfing, especially for those days with small waves. It can be practiced in almost any body of water. We are honored to be launching the inaugural ISA Stand Up Paddle Surfing World Championship.”
The ISA now opens bidding to countries for hosting the first ISA World SUP Surfing Championship in the history of Surfing.
If you’re interested in hosting the event, please write to surf@isasurf.org
About the ISA
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing and all Surfriding activities, including Short Board, Longboard, Bodyboard, Kneeboard, Tandem, Skimboard, Tow In and Stand Up Paddle surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980.
ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 50 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since. The ISA’s four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA), and Karin Sierralta (Peru).