The 2019 New York SUP Open was another great event on the APP World Tour, with the world’s best athletes getting the chance to show off their skills with incredible backdrops. From the Liberty Race around the Statue of Liberty, to the events in Long Beach, everyone in NYC had the chance to see the great skills of these stars on the water. The Minimally Informed Guide to the 2019 New York SUP Open ]] As the APP World Tour heads to Red Bull Heavy Water, the 5th stop of the 2019 APP World Tour—and Barbados for the third surfing stop on the schedule this year—here’s a look back at how the 2019 New York SUP Open went down, and some of the top highlights from the event and competitions. Major Competitors Take the Liberty Race and New York SUP Open Overall With an incredible backdrop and exciting competition all around, APP World Tour athletes Arthur Arutkin and April Zilg took victory in the Liberty Race, the distance race that takes competitors around the iconic Statue of Liberty in the Hudson. Along with the combined performances in the Sprints competition, it gave Arutkin and Zilg the overall victory at the New York SUP Open. The win for Arutkin at the event pushed him to the top of the APP World Tour rankings heading out of the New York SUP Open.

]] The Liberty Race Gets Exciting at the New York SUP Open The Liberty Race is the final race held for the New York SUP Open, pushing athletes to go around the Statue of Liberty with the Manhattan skyline as the backdrop. The 13.5km course is a tough one for competitors, but with nice weather and a beautiful backdrop, it makes for an exciting race every year. Arutkin took the Liberty Race on the men’s side for the second straight year, while Zilg won the race for the first time–and her first-ever win of an APP World Tour event. The Men’s side of the Liberty Race was a tight competition, with Australia’s Michael Booth giving Arutkin all he could to try and dethrone the 2018 winner. But Arutkin showed off his top conditioning and stamina, as he was able to challenge Booth throughout the race and then pulled ahead to get the win. Booth finished second in the race and fourth overall in the New York SUP Open, leaving him in second overall in the rankings leaving this event. ]] On the women’s side of the race, Fiona Wylde challenged Zilg in the Liberty Race, but Zilg was too good on this day and was able to take the win. The lead changed back and forth as the race went on, but by the end, Zilg was able to finish 21 seconds ahead of Wylde for the victory. Wylde finished third overall in the event and finished the event at number three in the rankings, while Zilg’s performance pushed her closer to the top spot, finishing second in the rankings behind Seychelle Webster, the number one-ranked athlete on the women’s side. Webster won the Sprints competition and finished second overall in the event behind Zilg.

New York SUP Open / John Carter / APP World Tour Best of the Rest – Results and Strong Performances French athlete Martin Vitry gave a solid overall performance at the event, finishing third in the Liberty Race and second in the Surf Sprints event held in Long Beach. That performance pushed him up the rankings, landing him in fifth place overall. Along with Vitry, athlete Georges Cronstadt also gave a solid performance, finishing in fifth in the Liberty Race. The Top 5 Distance Race Finishers were as follows: ]] Arthur Arutkin (FR) Michael Booth (AUS) Martin Vitry (FR) Connor Baxter (HI) Georges Cronstadt (PYF)

New York SUP Open / John Carter / APP World Tour Women’s APP World Tour athlete Annie Reickert finished second in the Surf Sprint Racing event and sixth place in the distance race, which put her in fourth overall for the New York SUP Open. She’s now ranked seventh in the APP World Tour rankings coming out of the event. 2018 World Champion Shae Foudy came back from an injury and still gave a very solid performance, finishing seventh overall in the New York SUP Open event. Another athlete who had a solid performance was Yuka Sato, who finished fifth in the event and is now in fourth overall in the APP World Tour rankings. Here are the Top 5 finishers from the distance race: April Zilg (US) Fiona Wylde (US) Laura Quetglas (ESP) Seychelle Webster (US) Yuka Sato (JP) ]] NY SUP Open Pro Sprint Competition Recap The Sprint events are always one of the most exciting ones at the NY SUP Open, and 2019 was no different. The event in Long Beach saw a number of athletes push to try and win, leaving Denmark’s Casper Steinfath and Florida’s Seychelle Webster as the top finishers at the event. Steinfath was pushed by Arthur Arutkin and Connor Baxter in the event, and after the first round, it was Steinfath leading Arutkin and Martin Vitry. Steinfath made it through his quarterfinals round against over Guillerme Dos Reis and Noic Garioid. On the other side, it was Arutkin who finished over Martin Vitry, Christian Anderson and Zane Schweitzer to advance to the finals. In the fourth and final Sprint Race of the day, Steinfath was able to win over Vitry, Arutkin and Baxter to take the win. The fastest heat score for the day was accomplished by Steinfath in the semis.

New York SUP Open / John Carter / APP World Tour The Men’s Top 5 shook out like this: 1st Place: Casper Steinfath 2nd Place: Martin Vitry 3rd Place: Arthur Arutkin 4th Place: Connor Baxter 5th Place: Guilherme Dos Reis ]] On the women’s side, Webster took the top spot in the Sprints, while Shae Foudy put together the fastest heat time. Zilg showed off her skills by finishing in the top spot, and she performed very well throughout the event, including by dominating Yuka Sato, Caroline Kuntzel and Giannisa Vecco in Round 2, which helped propel her through the next rounds. The final heat was a competition between Seychelle Webster, Annie Reickert, April Zilg and Shae Foudy, and Webster was able to finish on top for the win. The Women’s Top 5 shook out like this: 1st Place: Seychelle Webster 2nd Place: Annie Reickert 3rd Place: April Zilg 4th Place: Shae Foudy 5th Place: Fiona Wylde APP World Tour Surfing in Long Beach Recap At this competition, Luiz Diniz and Izzi Gomez took the wins with strong performances. The victory wast first ever APP World Tour Event Win for Diniz, and put himself at number two ranked in the world. IT also put him in position for the overall title this season. Diniz had to go through a number of top athletes, including Zane Schweitzer, Daniel Hughes, and Poenaiki Raioha. ]]

New York SUP Open / John Carter / APP World Tour On the women’s side, Gomez gave a strong performance and beat Aline Adisaka in the quarterfinals, and then Vania Torres in the semifinals to propel her info the finals. Gomez faced off against Yuuka Horikoshi and was able to hold her off to get the victory here. Check out more on the New York SUP Open and the APP World Tour here. The Current Rankings Here’s a look at the rankings on the The APP World Tour: Men’s Race Overall ]] Michael Booth, Australia Arthur Arutkin, France Casper Steinfath, Denmark Martin Vitry, France Noic Garioud, New Caledonia Connor Baxter, Hawaii Itzel Delgado, Peru Daniel Hasulyo, Hungary Titouan Puyo, New Caledonia Lincoln Dews, Australia