Midwest Masters SUP Race & Lap the Lake Event

This weekend the Midwest Masters SUP Race & Lap the Lake event came to Riviera Beach in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The weather could not have been better, and the paddler's were pumped up! Stand-up paddle(SUP) boarders young and old, beginner and expert, showed up to enjoy the lake and camaraderie of the Lake Geneva paddling community. The racers paddled hard and competed in 1-mile, 3-mile, and 6-mile formats, but the event seemed centered around friendship and community more then anything else.

^Riviera Beach in the heart of Lake Geneva was
an ideal venue for the event. The start and finish area were littered with tents, boards, paddles, and all kinds of smiling spectators and racers enjoying the sunshine and gorgeous late summer weather on the lake.

^Riviera fountain just east of the beach.

^Organizers held the event together well and in timely fashion with ever present enthusiasm for the sport they so obviously love. It seemed as though friends, families, and neighbors, as well as some new comers, came together for the race on Saturday. Sunday included a "Lap the Lake" fundraiser as well as more activities on the lake. 

^The 1-mile racers shove off in this picture above and included all ages, beginners, and any paddlers looking for a shorter distance with all the fun and excitement of a race too. Pictured above, friends and family cheered the 1-miler racers on from shore as they paddled out of the shoreline start.

^Dad and his youngster come into the shore near the finish in this picture above getting ready to run to the finish line. 

^Paddles raised and hand in hand the father-son team brought it in to cheering organizers and friends as they finished their 1-mile race on the fine morning.  

^The 6-mile racers included the more elite status of racers looking to push it hard in a longer format. Some of these folks were obviously seasoned veteran racers that proved to be fast in the water too. In this picture above they prepared to start from a seated position behind there boards.

^The countdown had the 6-milers up and hustling to their boards, then frantically paddling out of the start past moored boats just off the beach in downtown Lake Geneva, as pictured above. The paddling action was fast and fierce in this category, and the distance legit in paddling 3 miles out through a buoyed race course and then back to the shoreline finish line. This category featured the most hard-core racers, but again the competitiveness was overshadowed by the sense of community pulsing through the enthusiastic paddlers and spectators of friends, family, and Lake Geneva tourists enjoying the scene during their stroll through quant rural downtown. The beauty of the town center shops and restaurants flanks the sandy beach situated right on all the attractions of Lake Geneva. The SUP event gave all the tourists yet another unique and fun experience to see in town. The enthusiasm for the athleticism of the sport of stand-up paddle boarding was evident and delightful throughout the event. However, the community camaraderie that flowed through the crowd onshore the cold lake was by far and away the most eminent factor of the joyous event. The exercise of Saturday's races kicked-off the uplifting paddling attitudes, and Sundays Lap the Lake activities polished off the weekend to really bring home the fun-loving nature the event obviously was centered around. Competition got the blood pumping, but the love of a sport and the community that is drawn to it swelled the hearts of all involved in this wonderful weekend event celebrating stand-up paddle boarding in beautiful Lake Geneva. 


For more information about the event and organizers, click here.