Singapore SUP Sprint Race, 2 July 2022

2 July 2022 Singapore SUP Sprint Race

Background …

 

On the 2nd July 2022, more than 80 people gathered as early as 8am to help as well as to race in the inaugural Singapore SUP Sprint Race (SSSR).  

 

 

The organising committee comprising Singapore Canoe Federation Stand Up Paddling (SCF-SUP) and PAssionWaVe Bedok Reservoir (PA_BR) representatives took less than 3 weeks to obtain all the authorities’ clearance and sit down with all parties involved to map, plan and execute a National Level Race.  

 

From registration to logistics to marketing to Racers’ and Volunteers’ Briefing etc, everyone in the Singapore SUP community, including ASI SUP Instructors/ ASI SUP Rescue Paddlers and even student helpers from Yuan Ching Secondary School stepped up to support the event.  

 

The Highlights …

 

There were a total of 32 categories for female and male athletes with 132 medals up for grabs that day.  Being the first SUP Race in Bedok Reservoir, we were glad to see racers as young as 12 years old (competing in the Under 14 category) to the wise age of 70 years old (competing across both the Grandmaster and Master Category).  

 

 

Race venue setup consists of 3 straight lane distances of 250m, 500m and 1000m. There were 2 outstanding youth challengers who had just completed 3 lessons in the ASI SUP WISE Level 1 course or stood on a SUP board for the 3rd time in their lifetime. Kudos to Destin and Siying who both competed in the U14 category.

 

 

Being the first SUP Sprint race brought much interest as organisers decided to accept Race entrants with iSUPs or alternative boards besides the usual 14ft Race Boards in the Open Category.  

 

We were also glad to welcome Caron Ng in the 1000m Open challenge despite his disadvantage using a 9.6 ft BIC All rounders Board (to cater for his shorter stature). Inclusion of Caron in our SUP Community and SSSR truly lent greater testimony to the philosophy of Constant Wind’s ASI School (ITC) that SUP is for anyone and everyone who is keen to learn a new sport.  The supporting cheer from the crowd and his fellow 1000m competitors that morning truly gave motivation to Caron in completing the 1000m race alongside the record setters.

 

 

After a midday break and brief thunderstorm to cool the weather, the afternoon picked up momentum as the shorter races of 500m and 250m saw the participants going all out to beat their personal best timing.

  

ASI Instructor Daojia, sped to a record 83s, in the 250m Sprint.  Though it seems to be way off American’s Connor Baxter 46s for 200m Sprint, we are still cheering on our Singapore’s Fastest SUP Paddler as he enters his final leg of race preparation for his first overseas SUP race in Poland (2022 ICF SUP World Championships Gdynia).

 

 

In the Pipeline …

 

At the end of the final race, the social fun of chilling out with each other throughout the day in our Singapore SUP community far surpasses the medals they brought home as summed up by Daojia.  Coming from various SUP sports teams in Singapore, 2022 SSSR brought together paddlers and volunteers around the island.  Many were happy to be a part of Singapore’s SUP History and have directly requested for SSSR to be an annual addition to the Singapore SUP Racing Calendar.

 

Finally, we are grateful for the support from our South East District Mayor - Mr Mohd Fahmi, who happens to be our ASI SUP WISE Level 1 student too.  He gamely took the 12.6 ft SIC Sonic Touring Boards (also used for the One Design races) out onto the waters for photo-taking on his arrival.  After witnessing the entire afternoon sprints, he insisted on standing with us in the open, battling the hot sweltering hot afternoon sun, to present all our racers their medals.

 

Packed home with all the smiles from the race participants and volunteers, he is all hopeful for the development of the Singapore SUP as a competitive sport and even shared his thoughts on his facebook page that he is looking forward to having more such races or SUP related events in the near future.

 

 

With such tremendous positive feedback from everyone who participated, the organising committee is now planning the upcoming Singapore SUP Technical Race tentatively scheduled on 26-27 Nov 2022!  Look out for more action and details to be released soon via Singapore.SUP facebook/ IG account.

 

Photo Credits: Iswadi Zaba, Teo Han Wue, Tony Lee and Julia Chua

Write-Up: Julia Chua and Tony Lee

 

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