Catching up on news, today’s episode is shorter but jam-packed with news from marathon kayaking/canoe and stand up paddleboard racing. Billy and Betsy start with the Dordogne Integrale, one of the biggest ultra paddling races of the year where the first two K1 finishers were separated by only 1 second after more than 8 hours of paddling. They take a quick look at the GB marathon selection race results and identify a few paddlers and crews who could be likely to medal at the European and World Championships later this year.

And then it’s all about SUP… Is this the biggest 6 weeks in SUP ever? That’s what Mike Jucker from Stand Up Magazin has called this April - May stretch of non-stop elite SUP racing. In the episode, Betsy and Billy recap the recent SUP internationals: results and stand-out performances from:

• Battle for Hercules, Spain, April 26-27
• ICF SUP World Cup Sitia, Greece, May 01- 02
• Agios Nikolaos, Greece, May 03-04 (10th anniversary event)
• Triple S Festival Melilla, Spain, May 02-04
• Sancti Petri (Euro Tour) Sup Festival, Spain, May 10-11

The top women so far are too close to separate. No one yet has consistently dominated across events or categories (sprint / technical / distance), they’ve largely been trading places on the podium and beyond. Can any of these top six women start taking the top spot more consistently at this point in the season?

Top Six from this season’s European international races: Mariecarmen Rivera (Puerto Rico), Duna Gordillo (Spain), Alba Frey (Spain), Esperanza Barreras (Spain), Katniss Paris (USA), Csillag Kocsis (Hungary)

On the men’s side, Shrimpy (Shuri Araki, Japan) remains the King of SUP but two young men seem to be having stand-out seasons: Donato Freens (Netherlands) and Fernando Perez Serra (Spain). Keep an eye out for these two in the coming months…

Looking ahead, the SUP racers will be back in Spain again. Betsy and Billy consider: is Spain the SUP capital of the world? And what factors will separate the racers in the coming weeks at the end of this six week block?

00:44 Dordogne Integrale recap & results; surfskis versus K1s; rise of SUP entries

06:31 GB Assessment (Selection) races: which paddlers could medal at worlds?

09:06 SUP Internationals: recapping the results and stand-outs

22:09 Upcoming SUP races: World SUP Festival Costa Blanca & Barcelona World SUP Festival; factors that could differentiate the top few racers

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