2019 ISA Championships Headed To El Salvador

LA JOLLA, California - The International Surfing Association (ISA) is delighted to announce that the 2019 ISA World StandUp Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC) will take place in El Salvador from November 23 - December 1. SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, and Paddleboard Racing will take place at the country's renowned righthand point break El Sunzal.

The event will be designated as the 'Surf City El Salvador' ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship to highlight its role in El Salvador's long-term strategy to promote its world-renowned surfing destinations. 2019 will mark the 8th consecutive year that the ISA has run the World Championship, crowning the first World Champions in 2012 in Peru. Succeeding editions of the event were held across four continents in Peru (2013), Nicaragua (2014), Mexico (2015), Fiji (2016), Denmark (2017), and China (2018), exemplifying the universal appeal of the sport.

The WSUPPC is the premiere and only World Championship for the disciplines of SUP Racing and Surfing, having crowned undisputed World Champions in the sport since the event's 2012 inauguration. Record participation was reached in 2017 when 286 athletes from 42 nations descended upon the waterways of Copenhagen, Denmark, as well as the country's rugged northwest coast known as Cold Hawaii.

France’s Olivia Piana earned her first ISA Gold in the Women’s SUP Distance race at the 2018 WSUPPC. | Photo: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

In 2018 Team Australia continued their domination in the event, earning their sixth Team Gold Medal over the event's seven editions. Individual Gold Medals were earned by global stars such as Brazil's Luiz Diniz (SUP Surfing), Australia's Shakira Westdorp (SUP Surfing), USA's Candice Appleby (SUP Technical Race), Hungary's Daniel Hasulyo (SUP Technical Race), France's Olivia Piana (SUP Distance Race), and Australia's Michael Booth (SUP Distance Race), among others. 2018 also marked the first edition that the event crowned Junior SUP Racing World Champions, as USA's Jade Howson (Girls) and Ryan Funk (Boys) swept the Gold Medals for their nation.

Under ISA leadership, SUP has gained momentum in the Olympic Movement with inclusion in several multi-sport events. Most recently, as part of the ISA governance of SUP, it celebrated its most significant Olympic Movement inclusion to date by joining the Sports Programme of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games.

USA's Connor Baxter and Brazil's Lena Ribeiro took the respective Men's and Women's Gold Medals in an epic SUP race at Lima's famed break of Punta Rocas. Siblings Izzi and Giorgio Gomez, representing Colombia, took the SUP Surfing Gold Medals.

USA’s Connor Baxter celebrates a Pan American SUP Racing Gold Medal in Peru. | Photo: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

"We are proud to continuing gathering the world's best SUP and Paddleboard athletes and crown World Champions," said ISA President Fernando Aguerre. He continued, "The sport of StandUp Paddle is riding a wave of global momentum as it continues to be one of the world's fastest-growing water sports. SUP has gained inclusion in key Olympic Movement multi-sport games thanks to efforts by the ISA. Our vision is to continue developing and growing the sport until one day it arrives to the world's greatest sporting stage, the Olympic Games. I am looking forward to watching the world's best compete for Gold on the beautiful, tropical coast of El Salvador. The perfect waves and beautiful scenery will make for an edition to remember."

Morena Ileana Valdez Vigil, Minister of Tourism for El Salvador, said:

"We are excited to partner with the ISA for this World Championship. Hosting the Surf City El Salvador ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship is part of a national strategy of this Government to promote and highlight the excellent surfing destination that our country has to offer. The waves are one of the country's most valuable assets, a resource that never runs out and promotes healthy living and respect of the environment."

About the International Surfing Association:

The International Surfing Association (ISA), founded in 1964, is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. The ISA governs and defines Surfing as Shortboard, Longboard & Bodyboarding, StandUp Paddle (SUP) Racing and Surfing, Bodysurfing, Wakesurfing, and all other wave riding activities on any type of waves, and on flat water using wave riding equipment. The ISA crowned its first Men's and Women's World Champions in 1964. It crowned the first Big Wave World Champion in 1965; World Junior Champion in 1980; World Kneeboard Champions in 1982; World Longboard Surfing and World Bodyboard Champions in 1988; World Tandem Surfing Champions in 2006; World Masters Champions in 2007; and World StandUp Paddle (SUP, both surfing and racing) and Paddleboard Champions in 2012.