What keeps me doing SUP, even if the sport has changed?

Even as the landscape of stand-up paddling evolves — whether it’s the rise and fall of trends, shifting priorities in both the race and recreational scenes, or changes in how the sport is perceived by paddlers and non-paddlers — my connection to SUP remains deeply rooted. I stay in it not because it’s always easy, popular, or understood by everyone, but because of something more personal.

What keeps me doing SUP?

Some would consider me still relatively new to SUP. Still, I feel like i’ve been doing SUP for a lifetime, and if you consider the hours I have put in on a SUP, it would count as many more years than other paddlers have invested their energy in over the same period of time.

I only seriously took up SUP first as a fitness activity in 2017, around 8 years ago, with a certification and introduction of my SUP fitness class which led to SUP racing and then paddle surfing. My first time ever on a stand up paddle board was in 2012 at IDEA World Fitness Convention held in San Diego. The first time experiencing a SUP race was the Battle of the Paddle in 2013 when I was living in Laguna Niguel. I watched in awe as the athletes came in through the surf on these long skinny boards much different than what I had used my first time paddling. Then, when I moved across the US to the east coast, I remember renting a board to paddle the local waterways, and watching another smaller local SUP race during my first year living in the Lowcountry.

Here's what keeps me returning to SUP:

It’s my love for the water — the quiet peacefulness of gliding over the glassy moonlit reflection at dawn before the first light of the day, the exhilaration of catching a wave standing up, or the empowering rhythmic flow of paddle strokes on a long-distance session. This sport speaks to something inside me that doesn’t need outside validation nor company.

I keep showing up because of passion and purpose. SUP isn’t just a sport I do — it’s part of how I live. It rounds out everything else I do around fitness, wellness and training for my personal aesthetic, wellness and performance goals. It’s a way to move through the world with freedom, focus, and presence. It gives structure and meaning to my goals, fuels my personal growth, and keeps me connected to something bigger than myself and the vanity of how my body looks.

The value it adds to my life goes far beyond results, rankings, or recognition. It’s in the fitness I build and cultivate, the mental clarity I find myself, and the daily rituals that anchor me — especially when life feels chaotic, uncertain, or plain ol’ stressful. It’s a wellness practice, a form of meditation, a path back to myself again and again, and ultimately a way of life.

The thrill is still there, too. Every new ride caught in the surf, every hard-earned breakthrough in technique and skill, every headwind I paddle against, every tough race course I fight through — those moments remind me I’m alive, capable, and still learning and growing.

So yes, the sport may have changed. And it’s continuing to do so. But my “why” hasn’t. I continue to shift, evolve, and flow alongside it. Even if others don’t see it the way I do, I keep going — because I know what stand up paddling - SUP racing, paddle surfing - gives me. And that’s more than enough.

Join me as I continue to share my love of SUP:

• Lessons + Coaching

• Retreats & Camps

• Online Learning Platform

• Trips, Tours, and more..

Visit www.standandpaddle.com to learn more or email contact@standandpaddle.com to book.