Juliette Duhaime, the first SUP Champion from Argentina? Not yet, but with her passion and drive, this may change in the next few years! Placed in the top 10 at the APP tour race in New York, followed by a 4th place finish in a rather “technical” Carolina CUP.
Infinity paddler Juliette Duhaime has been gripped by the SUP race sport, equipped with an Infinity Blackfish, as part of the Paddle Freak club she is definitely one paddler on the move, and one to look out for in the future! TotalSUP catches up to Juliette, to find out the inner drive to her success!
My name is Juliette DuHaime, I’m 24 years old. I was born in Teaneck, New Jersey where I lived for 11 years, then I moved to Paraná Argentina where I lived for almost 12 years.
About a year ago when I got sponsored by Infinity, I moved to North Carolina to pursue my Stand Up Paddle dream.
I started stand up paddleboard five years ago thanks to my aunt in New Jersey but didn’t really connect with it. Later that year when I was back home in Argentina, I took another lesson from Francisco Giusti, the guy that brought stand up paddle to Paraná, Argentina and thus the spell was cast. I immediately fell in love with the sport.
There was something about paddling in the river, the connection between the river and myself whilst doing a physical activity that got me hooked. At the time it was a difficult period in my life, so SUP became my therapy which saved/changed my life. After a few months I was introduced to SUP racing, I was entering races on all round boards, but then I started winning, so I eventually switched to racing 12’6 boards.
My favourite kind of racing is sprint and technical racing, but I also enjoy long distance race because it really challenges me mentally. I have recently started sup surfing but have not yet competed, though I plan on doing so soon though. I am totally in LOVE with my blackfish 14’ x 21.5″ board, it is by far the best board for all conditions that I have paddled on.
The blackfish behaves amazingly in everything, from choppy conditions, flat water, in waves, and it is the perfect weight for handling!
You sprung into action at the APP world Tour in 2019. How was that experience?
So yes, my first and only APP world tour race was in 2019, at Long Beach, New York. There I competed in the sprint races and then did the long distance race around the Statue of Liberty. I finished inside the top 10 in both races. Looking back on it, I am extremely satisfied and happy with my results, I would love to go back there and do it again, now that I have more training. But that’s why I was so excited about the Carolina CUP, where I competed in both the Sprint and long distance in Wrightsville Beach.
Now I am focused on competing in more APP events, basically compete in as many as possible. Also, to discover new places around the world while working up to one day becoming an APP world champion.
It is great to hear a lady paddler so excited! What is your training plan to crush it in the next APP events?
Currently, I am training with Ocean Academy, a.k.a. Candice Appleby and it is going great! I’ve been training super hard, and I am extremely motivated to keep gaining experience and getting faster and stronger. My training schedule depends on what event I am training for, but for the Carolina Cup I was paddling 5 days a week, as well as doing running and strength workouts at the gym.
The Covid lockdowns did not really impact my training except for when it first started, and I was in Argentina, I wasn’t able to paddle for three months, so I did workouts at home. It sucked!!
What excites you about SUP racing?
Just that the sport is growing so much and there are a lot of amazing little paddlers who are going to be very strong, so that’s pretty exciting knowing that there will be a lot of competition, and it won’t be easy. I just wish for a lot of fun racing and good vibes in the SUP community around the world.
Let’s all keep an eye out for Juliette Duhaime, the maybe, next SUP champion from Argentina!
