Professional stand up paddle boarder Chase Kosterlitz told the October AYC monthly meeting that he’s trying to bring order out of chaos for the young sport of SUP racing. Chase showed a video of the start of the world’s most prominent event in 2013, with a herd of paddleboarders pushing past the supposed start line, edging up to the water (keeping up with the “first cheater,” he said) and then crashing into each other as they started, looking for room to put their boards.
A sport without rules is not a sport, he said, describing what he’s tried to do with the Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association (SUPAA), which he founded. He said he’s now trained about 50 officials worldwide in an attempt to stabilize the sport and make it more fair for all competitors.
“I live in San Diego,” says Chase, “where I surf, hike and train in between traveling around the world looking for adventure. I got into water sports as a professional kiteboarding and stand up paddle instructor, where I learned to kiteboard in 2005 and began stand up paddling in 2008.
“After a collegiate basketball career, I became an avid water sports enthusiast–dedicated to living and promoting an active lifestyle on the water. This passion led me to establish my Florida-based business, Water Monkey, in order to promote this lifestyle. In five years of competition I have several championship titles and multiple wins across the United States and around the world. In addition to competition I enjoy writing and traveling to find new and challenging places to paddle, surf, kitesurf and explore.”
For more information visit SUPathletes.com. And here’s his personal website.
