Glen earns place at World Stand Up Paddling Championship
Glen Sloss of Sannox has qualified to represent his country as part of the first Scottish stand up paddling (SUP) team compete at the ISA World SUP Championships in Denmark in September.
The accomplished stand up paddleboarder earned his place in the five-person team by finishing second at the Scottish Surfing Federation (SSF) sanctioned event hosted by Glasgow Paddleboarders Co at Portobello beach, Edinburgh.
Glen took part in the competition with his 14-foot Infinity Blackfish stand up paddleboard with the aim of qualifying to represent Scotland.
The day’s racing began with a 4.5km tech race. Tech racing involves running with your board from the beach into the sea, paddling laps around a course marked with buoys then paddling back to shore, before climbing off the SUP board and running across the finish line on the beach with paddle in hand.
In the tech race, Chris McDonald took an early lead but Jonathan Sherwin and Glen Sloss edged in to first and second positions respectively and built a good lead ahead of the main pack.
This event was the combined qualifier with the top two positions earning a spot for the tech (5-6km) and distance (18-20km) races in Denmark.
Glen had also hoped to do well in the sprint event which involves running out to sea with your board and paddling as fast as your can out to a marker buoy, then turning back to the shore where you run over the finish line with your board.
But he fell off his board in the sprint final, meaning he finished in second place, narrowly missing out on winning the single sprint qualification spot.
Glen spoke to the Banner about his SUP career and competing in the world championships.
He said: “It’s only been two years since my first SUP race, which was in Whitley Bay. Since then I have attended quite a few events, taking part in a total of 22 races around the UK, Sweden and Spain.
“This will be quite an experience and a complete contrast to what I’m used to when I race in the distance race around Copenhagen Harbour and surrounding canals.
“It will be a huge challenge. The best SUP racers from around the world will be there on the same starting line as myself. As well as the physical and mental challenge of racing, it will be a great sporting atmosphere.
“I’m sure the rest of the team and I will feel a great sense of pride being part of World SUP Championships and hopefully we are able to inspire others to take up SUP racing in Scotland.”
The full Scottish team heading to Copenhagen will comprise: Glen Sloss, tech and distance; Jonathan Sherwin, tech, distance and sprint; Jennifer Ng-Armstrong, sprint; Angela Kerr, tech and distance; and Alison Rennie, tech and distance.
The ISA World SUP Championships kick off with an opening ceremony on Monday September 16, followed by six days of racing and events, including a mass participation event. The closing ceremony is on Sunday September 22.
The Scottish SUP team hope to get sponsorship to cover some of the costs of competing in Denmark. If you wish to support them you can do so at tinyurl.com/supscotland
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