When COVID-19 first hit, the world was navigating uncharted territory. Like many things, SUP competition was canceled with no projection of when and even if they would be allowed to resume. For athletes, the hold on races and surf events was a major shake up, as their lives revolved around training, traveling, and competing. Although times were challenging, most chose to make lemonade and spent this enforced “vacation” tapping into endeavors for which they ordinarily wouldn’t have time. With the pandemic beginning to improve, competition dates are being tentatively announced and the athletes are eager to get back out there. Here, some of the best in the sport share how they spent the time away from competition and their thoughts heading into the upcoming SUP racing and SUP surfing season.

Candice Appleby - San Clemente, CA

The year off from racing turned out to be a really big blessing because it gave my body a chance to rest from all the intense training. More importantly, it gave me a chance to coach other athletes. Over the past year, I’ve realized how much I love coaching and encouraging people with their own paddling, and it’s encouraged me to start my own coaching business.

I’m super excited to get on the start line again; my body has been allowing me to train and I’m feeling strong. All the coaching that I’ve been doing has made me really focused on little technical things and I feel like my technique has improved a lot.

Zane Schweitzer - Kahana, Maui

I am so thankful for this year at home; the change of pace, and spending quality time with family. It’s been a truly unique time in Maui with only residents in our community and no tourism or visitors allowed into the islands. With no one working, and the oceans and beaches open to cultural practices like surfing, paddling, and fishing, we were able to experience places that we normally wouldn’t as they would usually be packed with visitors. Surfing has been great and so was the fishing; it seemed even the fish were coming back to the shorelines with less activity throughout the island.

I am so excited to get back into travel and competition! This time off has been a great opportunity to train and charge up my competitive drive. I’ve come to realize that I feel a lot more productive and purposeful when having goals and endeavors to look forward to. In many ways, the structure of competition is a great way for me to continue pushing myself to grow both professionally and personally. I’m excited to get back into that flow.

Lara Claydon - Lahaina, Maui

I really enjoyed sitting back and spending extensive time with family, growing a deeper appreciation for my home in Maui, and the opportunity to pursue some other dreams during this time off. Thankfully, we were able to surf and be at the beach most of the time. We surfed a lot! Maui was closed to visitors, so it was only locals in the water, and it was awesome to be surfing with all my friends. But it definitely was hard to not only physically adjust to the new situations but mentally, too. It was hard to find motivation to work out and train, since there were no events and no telling what the future held.

I am excited to get back into training with Suzie Cooney and apply everything I have learned and reflected on this past year regarding competition, surfing, and stand up paddling. I’m excited to see my friends from around the world and be within and surrounded by the community of friends and family on the APP World Tour. I absolutely love competing, but the community of people and friends that competitions bring together is my favorite part of it all.

Michael Booth - Perth, Australia

At the start, I accepted the break with open arms. I was tired and worn out from years on the road racing, and was ready for a break. I took time off from paddling, tried new things, and got a feel for what life is like when I’m not racing. I created a podcast called BOOTHCAST, where I interview sports people and business leaders from around the globe, and I threw myself heavily into my online coaching business called BOOTH Training. I also learned how to wing foil, started playing golf, listened to a lot of books, started a clothing brand called Désirs De Voyage, and traveled around my home state. The best thing I gained from 2020 was reaffirming what my passions are, that I love to paddle, enjoy racing, and want my lifestyle to be around the ocean.

I’m very keen to get back to racing. I want to be fit, at the top of my game, and back racing against the best. Something I reaffirmed during the break is that there is no better feeling than lining up in big events with it all on the line. I love the nervous energy, the anticipation, the preparation, the fight, the energy, and all the other emotions that go into racing.

Shae Foudy - Dana Point, CA

I thoroughly enjoyed having a year off! I had time to rest and do my own thing. It allowed me to hang out with friends more, have more me time, surf more, and focus on school and things that didn’t relate to SUP and training. But it was also hard because I was so used to competing and training full time and having that purpose. But overall, I’d say it was the best thing ever because I’ve had some really bad injuries and it allowed me to have a break.

I have so many thoughts on returning to competitions. When I know for sure that there will be a racing season, I’ll be excited. It’s been so up in the air and it’s been kind of frustrating because I don’t want to get my hopes up if it's not going to happen. But once I know that races are happening, I will be excited and will want to start training more, and will be pumped to know that I could be racing again.

Fiona Wylde - Hood River, Oregon

Like many others, I did home improvement projects, planted a garden, dedicated time to my studies, and spent a lot of time outside with my dog, paddling, mountain biking, and exploring my own backyard. I also coached the Big Winds Junior Elite Team, which was by far the highlight of 2020 for me. The biggest struggle I had throughout the year was figuring out what to train for. With no events on the schedule, I found myself exercising every day but not training. For a while that was okay, but then I realized that I missed training; it taught me how much I love training and now I am training harder and smarter than ever.

I am really excited to race. The time off has put many things into perspective and the biggest is my love for competing and the sport. I cannot wait until I get the opportunity to race again and be back in the competitive arena. I am feeling ready to go and training for whatever opportunities this season brings.

Casper Steinfath.- Klitmoller, Denmark

After my successful APP World Title campaign in 2019, I was extremely burned out mentally and was ready for a break. Not having to pack and repack my suitcase weekly was a huge thing for me, since it allowed me to relax and set my sights on catching up with other parts of my life. I initially did a bunch of podcasts and projects that I normally would not have had time for, like starting a surf school and doing more one-on-one coaching. I also sought out small micro adventures on my SUP and foil around Denmark and got to discover many cool things in my own backyard waters. This gave me a new level of appreciation for where I live. But I have missed physically catching up with the friends I normally would see at all the events and I realized how much my SUP family and the world of SUP actually means to me.

I definitely feel excited now to get back into the fray of competition. The break has done wonderful things to my head and reignited deep parts of my motivation. I miss the nerves of standing on the start line and the insane chaos of clawing my way around the buoys. I'm sure I will hate the butterflies when I get to race day, but from where I stand right now, I believe the tranquility from a year off will result in a deeper hunger for all of us athletes to go full speed.

Tyler Bashor - Dana Point, CA

During the beginning of the pandemic, I received a message from my school telling me my senior year of high school was going to be online and a back injury that I had been struggling with worsened. At that point, I decided I could not paddle and it took around seven months to find a therapy that worked for me. Since my recovery, I have been making up for the lost time. I have paddled, surfed, worked out, or found some new adventure every day. Since there are no competitions running, I have had the opportunity to focus on my college career, explore new hobbies such as freediving and rock climbing, and reconnect with longtime friends. Without the intense pressure of training for specific SUP races, I have rediscovered the enjoyment of paddling to connect with nature and stay healthy.

I am nervous about the upcoming season but my long-time coach, Mike Eisert at The Paddle Academy, is helping me through the slow training process to prepare for these future events. As nervous as I am, I am equally excited. As an elite athlete, I crave the adrenaline rush that comes with an eager start line or an intense finish. So however scared I am, I really can’t wait for races to start back up.