Gran Canaria Pro-Am Returns to Crown SUP Surfing World Champions

LAS PALMAS, Spain - The Gran Canaria Pro-Am will return once again to the island's Capital City Las Palmas for its 6th edition, providing the most comprehensive and exciting global showcase for SUP Surfing and crowning 2025 World Champions in the process. It has become a celebrated annual pilgrimage to Las Palmas for this unique event, as the island has established itself as a European epicenter for not only SUP Surfing, but water sports as a whole, with year round sun and ocean conditions for all forms of surf riding.

For 2025, we will once again see performance and longboard SUP surfing contested for both men and women across the dual venue event, in addition to the unique U21 Junior Championships that define the sport's future stars. With €25,000 of prize-money up for grabs across the two disciplines and World Titles on the line, it is all to play for in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from the 16th - 21st December.

Registration is now open by emailing athletes@appworldtour.com with athlete's name, date of birth, nationality and contact details to secure a spot in this year's event, with entry open to open, pro, junior and master competitors.

A world class field of athletes will headline the 2025 Gran Canaria Pro-Am, that will take place in peak winter season. | Photo courtesy: APP World Tour

The event will take place during the peak winter season for swells in the Atlantic, meaning that we can expect some epic waves of the kind we have witnessed over the event's history. However, the event also benefits from the unparalleled Canarian winter weather that draws in people from all over the world to get away for some winter sun.

This year's event will see the return of reigning World Champions such as current performance surfing World Champions Taka Inoue from Japan and Luchy Cosoleto from Argentina, current longboard surfing World Champions Benoit Carpentier from France and Kaede Inoue from Japan.

Watch out for the strong contingent of talent coming from Brazil in the form of 2023 World Champion Luiz Diniz, previous event Champion Wellington Reis and the former Brazilian National Champion Leo Gimenes, equally strong across both disciplines. Meanwhile Sebastian Gomez from Peru will be back to fight for his long overdue shot at a World Title in 2025, along with Puerto Rican standout, Max Torres.

In the women, you can never count out 2018 World Champion and multiple times Gran Canaria Pro-Am Champion Iballa Moreno who continues to be a major force to be reckoned with, as well as a whole host of up and coming talent from across Europe, the Americas and beyond.

Finally, we are excited to see the return of Peru's Vania Torres, who will be looking to reassert her presence in the top ranks of the APP World Tour, but also the Italian multi-sport Champion Airton Cozzolino from Italy, who has long been a standout on the Tour in the past and is looking to make his presence felt at the Gran Canaria Pro-Am in 2025.

Longboard SUP and the Junior Championships will once again takes center stage in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in 2025. | Photo courtesy: APP World Tour

After 3 years of action for Longboard SUP at the Gran Canaria Pro-Am, and two official years of champions being crowned, we are excited to see longboard SUP return once again to the wave of La Cicer. From Leco Salazar's initial victory in 2022, to Taka Inoue in 2023 and then Benoit Carpentier this past year and the Inoue Sisters' dominance over the past few years, it will be a fiercely fought battle in 2025.

Judges and athletes have been refining and perfecting the criteria and performance differentiation from performance SUP, while celebrating what makes this discipline so special to deliver what will be without a doubt one of the highlights of this year's Gran Canaria Pro-Am. Meanwhile, the youth will be celebrated as always at this unique event, with U21 Champions set to be crowned, forging a clear pathway for new talent to rise up the ranks on the APP World Tour.

Make sure to stay tuned for the build up to this year's Gran Canaria Pro-Am and join us LIVE from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria at appworldtour.com, @appworldtour, www.youtube.com/@appworldtour.

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