ISA Crowns Gold for SUP Surf & Technical Racing

Surf City El Salvador – A huge day of action at the 2025 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championship (WSUPPC) saw eight World Champions crowned. The three-to-four-foot swell at El Sunzal set the stage for an exciting finish to SUP Surfing competition and played a huge part in the technical racing elements. Gold medals were won in men’s and women’s SUP Surfing, SUP Technical Racing, and Prone Technical Racing, along with Junior boys and girls in SUP Technical Racing.

As medals were won, a tight teams race began to take place. Japan earned the highest individual haul of the day with six medals, but three-time Team World Champion France held an extremely narrow rankings lead over defending champion Spain, who collected five. Brazil sits in third, with Japan close behind in fourth.

Photo-Finishes for the Women, Records Set for the Men

Women's Technical final start (left). Photo: ISA / Sean Evans / Juliette Duhaime (ARG) and Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR). | Photo: ISA / Pablo Franco

In a drama-filled day, the final moments of the last race proved to be the most exciting as Juliette Duhaime (ARG) and Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR) pushed each other to a photo finish. Rivera had taken an early lead, before falling, along with others in the lead pack. The Puerto Rican quickly recovered her position, however, and stuck tight with Duhaime, Duna Gordillo (ESP), and Alba Frey (ESP), who had taken the lead. A single wave proved to be the difference however, with Rivera and Duhaime gaining huge ground after catching one the Spaniards missed. From there, the pair of Dumaime and Rivera stayed neck-and-neck all the way to getting tangled in the shore-break together. In the end it was Duhaime who claimed her first gold medal after a thrilling foot race to the finish line.

“I can’t believe it,” Duhaime said. “All my glory goes to God. He’s the one that got me across that finish line. I asked Jesus for just a rock to be able to step on at that end, and he gave it to me. He blessed me, so this goes to him. Argentina is stoked. I’ve been competing for them for the past six years now. This is where I had my first World Championship and to win it now is literally a dream.”

Vania Torres. Team Peru. | Photo: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

An extremely tight women’s SUP Surfing Final also went all the way down to the wire, with Vania Torres (PER) and Lucia Cosoleto (ARG) both waiting for minutes after the buzzer for a score that would determine the World Champion. An early exchange between the two saw Cosoleto earn the slight advantage of a 6.33 to Torres’ 6.23. The back-to-back defending champion, Cosoleto, was able to drive through bigger outside turns, while Torres found a longer, less critical ride. The back-up score proved the difference, with Torres staying extremely patient for the biggest set of the Final that ultimately delivered her first World Title.

“I don’t know what’s happening right now, it’s crazy, it was hard, it’s been hard,” Torres said. “I was thinking, you’ve got to surf as if you want to win. You don’t surf for second or for fourth, it’s the same. I did my best. I’ve been training as much as I can. I tried not to leave anything to chance. Cristobal tells me that when you are training, the luck is with you, and I got lucky.”

Records were challenged and beaten as Shuri Araki (JPN) and Luiz Diniz (BRA) added to their growing gold medal counts. With an exceptionally dominant performance, Araki claimed his third World Title in the SUP Technical Race to match the three won by Casper Steinfath (DEN). Now holding four gold medals overall, and with two more races still ahead of him, the 19-year-old has the chance to equal or surpass Steinfath’s record of five SUP racing golds. Meanwhile, Diniz became the first person to win four gold medals in ISA SUP Surfing history. Having only entered the event four times, the 33-year-old has won every ISA WSUPPC he has competed in.

Luiz Diniz. Team Brazil. | Photos: ISA / Pablo Jimenez / Pablo Franco

“I want to thank God for these moments I live in,” Diniz said. “The momentum is good in my life. I’m so happy to deliver this moment, back-to-back-to-back-to-back World Champion. I’m so happy for this. I trained so hard and had a lot of preparation for this event.”

New Zealand’s Stella Smith (NZL) won the last women’s heat of the day with a buzzer-beater that sent the 23-year-old from third to first. With Aline Adisaka (BRA) having taken an early lead and Marine Kerdreux (FRA) holding second, Smith found the best wave of the heat. The 2018 bronze medalist, Smith, attacked section after section in order to claim her place in the Semifinals ahead of Adisaka, the three-time medalist.

World Titles for First-Time French Competitors Mael Tissier (FRA) and Eliott Bry (FRA)

Ethan Bry wins Gold for the Junior boys. | Photo: ISA / Sean Evans

Two French competitors making their first appearance in the WSUPPC, Mael Tissier (FRA) and Eliott Bry (FRA), claimed commanding wins in their respective divisions. Bry took out the Junior Boy’s SUP Technical Race. As several competitors faltered in the surf, including bronze and copper medalists Nagito Hirata (JPN) and Giulio Lazzarini (ITA), the 17-year-old paired strong paddling with effective use of the waves at El Sunzal to secure the win ahead of Ruben Cantoral (ESP), who claimed silver.

“I can’t believe it at the moment, but it was incredible,” Bry said. “The conditions were amazing with some big waves. This was one of the best technical races I have ever done for sure and the level of the other boys was just amazing. So yeah, this was incredible.”

Tissier crossed the finish line around 400 meters ahead of his competition, easily the most significant lead of the day. Already maintaining a strong position, the 29-year-old managed to time his laps perfectly with waves that boosted his momentum and widened the gap, earning a decisive victory in his WSUPPC debut.

Csillag Virág-Kocsis (HUN) Goes Back-to-Back as Yurika Horibe (JPN) Claims Long-Awaited Prone Technical Gold

Yurika Horibe, Team Japan (left) / Csillag Virág-Kocsis. Team Hungary (right) | Photos: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

A two-time World Champion in the Prone Distance Race, Yurika Horibe (JPN) finally claimed the gold medal in Prone Technical after previously winning the silver, bronze and copper medals in the race. Coming from a flatwater background, Horibe has dedicated herself to learning how to ride waves, which paid off in a big way and included one of the day’s highlights when she recovered a roll in a defining moment of the race. Three-time World Champion Judit Verges (ESP) won the silver medal, with Thais Delrieux (FRA) taking bronze and Flaminia Monti (ITA) the copper.

With another big win in the Junior Girl’s SUP Technical Race, Csillag Virág-Kocsis (HUN) became the back-to-back World Champion. The battle for the silver medal taking place behind the 18-year-old Hungarian was much more intense, however. The surf knowledge of Soryn Preston (USA) played a huge part in her positioning, but it was a wave caught by Ines Blin (FRA) that brought the most drama. Blin skyrocketed her position with a perfect read, setting the stage for a near-photo finish, with Blin taking silver, Preston, bronze.

“I’m just incredibly surprised first and foremost,” Virág-Kocsis said. “Probably the main thing was the waves, because I’m not a very good surfer. It’s my last year as a junior, so it’s like the perfect round for my little junior career. A lot of work went into this, that’s why I got a bit emotional. This year wasn’t super easy for me and for my family, so it just really means a lot.”

The 2025 WSUPPC will continue with the women’s Prone Distance Race at 12:30 p.m. CST, Friday, November 14, at El Sunzal.

Men’s SUP Technical Race Final. | Photo: ISA / Pablo Jimenez

RESULTS

Men’s SUP Surfing

Gold – Luiz Diniz (BRA)
Silver – Max Torres (PUR)
Bronze – Kapono Fukuda (JPN)
Copper – Tamil Martino (PER)

Women’s SUP Surfing

Gold – Vania Torres (PER)
Silver – Lucia Cosoleto (ARG)
Bronze – Aline Adisaka (BRA)
Copper – Gabriela Sztamfater (BRA)

Boy’s Junior SUP Technical Race

Gold – Eliott Bry (FRA)
Silver – Ruben Cantoral (ESP)
Bronze – Nagito Hirata (JPN)
Copper – Giulio Lazzarini (ITA)

Girl’s Junior SUP Technical Race

Gold – Csillag Virág Kocsis (HUN)
Silver – Ines Blin (FRA)
Bronze – Soryn Preston (USA)
Copper – Otono Hirata (JPN)

Men’s Prone Technical Race

Gold – Mael Tissier (FRA)
Silver – Lukas Pohlman (USA)
Bronze – Carlos Alonso (ESP)
Copper – So Nomura (JPN)

Women’s Prone Technical Race

Gold – Yurika Horibe (JPN)
Silver – Judit Verges (ESP)
Bronze – Thais Delrieux (FRA)
Copper – Flaminia Monti (ITA)

Men’s SUP Technical Race

Gold – Shuri Araki (JPN)
Silver – Christian Andersen (DEN)
Bronze – Guilherme Reis (BRA)
Copper – Nicolò Ricco (ITA)

Women’s SUP Technical Race

Gold – Juliette Duhaime (ARG)
Silver – Mariecarmen Rivera (PUR)
Bronze – Duna Gordillo (ESP)
Copper – Alba Frey (ESP)

For more SUP news, click here.