Geraldton makes waves hosting WA Stand Up Paddleboard Championships over weekend

The Batavia coastline hosted some of WA’s best stand up paddleboarders in the thrilling WA SUP State Championships on the weekend.

Winter weather did little to dim the competition, with the Geraldton swells providing perfect conditions for the State champions to be crowned in the two-day competition over July 20 and 21.

The biggest story over the weekend was the dominance of Denmark junior Isi Campbell, who was crowned both the junior and open women’s champion in her maiden event.

Despite this being her first championship, Campbell braved the experienced competition and took out the under-18s bracket with her score of 30.10 and the open women’s with 29.30.

“It’s been really fun and the waves have been pumping,” Campbell said.

“I’ve never entered a SUP event before but have been riding a SUP as part of my rehabilitation from shoulder surgery. I’ve never competed in an event alongside my dad, which made this weekend even more memorable.”

In the heavily competitive open men’s division, Peter Tomsett from Greenwood took out the cap, scoring a 7 and 5.17 in his two heats for a combined score of 12.17 out of 20. It proved too good for Jurien Bay’s Joel De Guzman, who finished second with a score of 11.20.

“I’ve had a lot of seconds and thirds over the past 10 years, so it feels great to finally get a win,” Tomsett said.

“I think Geraldton at this time of year is as good as it gets; we’ve been blessed here for the past three years, the weather has been great and so has the surf. This place always turns it on for us.”

Both the over-40s and over-50s men’s divisions were dominated by Chris Twomey from Karrinyup, taking the State title in both age brackets with final scores of 30.30 and 11.50.

Bicton’s Jamie Ralston enjoyed a double delight over the weekend as well, taking wins in the over-50 10ft SUP and over-60s SUP men’s division with scores of 11.50 and 27.2 respectively.

The 10-foot plus open men’s and women’s divisions were taken out by Spearwood’s Crawford Olney with a score of 11.93 and Scarborough’s Tasha Goswell, who scored an 8.37.

Surfing WA events manager Justin Majeks said Geraldton was a great host for the two-day competition.

“Congratulations to all our State champions and event participants who impressed in great waves,” he said.

“Geraldton turned it on again for our WA SUP community and we saw many new competitors leave their mark with some great surfing and sportsmanship.”

Along with the intense competition taking place, the championships recognised and honoured the life of Mid West local and avid ocean lover Patrice Richardson, who died last year.

The event paid tribute to Richardson with the Maverick Award, which went to Campbell.