2019 BAY BRIDGE PADDLE

The Chesapeake Bay unleashed a host of conditions at this year’s 4th Annual Bay Bridge Paddle. Whether you tackled your race to the finish or made the decision to cut it shorter–you made the right call. Experiences like this race make you a stronger paddler.

Some people think the goal of SUP racing is all about podiuming, but really it’s about putting in the hard work day in and day out training and being surrounded by an awesome community.

We’d like to highlight two Capital SUP Race Team paddlers that embody that.

Mary Zarcone

Mary Zarcone planned on doing the 9-mile course this weekend, but after seeing the conditions on race morning she decided to switch to the 5k. When Mary went to turn at the lighthouse she saw a paddler in distress, helped them to safely get back on board, and stayed with them until they felt comfortable. Mary went on to place 2nd in her age group division.

Jack Ballard

Jack Ballard has been paddling (& later working) out of Capital SUP since 2015. As Jack has grown up in this community it is great to see all of his hard work paying off. He’s a consistent paddler putting in work on the water and on the track. Jack is having a stellar start to the season placing 3rd overall SUP (while he’s in the 17U division) at the Bay Bridge Paddle this weekend. Jack also tacked the prestigious Carolina Cup where he placed 31st overall among some of the world’s best paddlers.

Thank you to Race Director, Shendan Grove, & ABC Events for putting on a great 4th Annual Bay Bridge Paddle. It’s great to see the local Maryland paddle community come together & tackle the Chesapeake Bay.

There were lots of strong performances from the Capital SUP Race Team. Head over to PaddleGuru to view the 2019 Bay Bridge Paddle results.

Check out more photos in our photo album on Facebook. On land shots courtesy of one of our newest Race Team Paddlers, Tonia Harley. On water shots courtesy of the Driftwood Photo Crew.