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Monday, March 18, 2024

Young SUPer nominated for national award

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Wilmington native Anna Blackburn is one of two North Carolinians nominated for an award from SUP Connect, a popular standup paddleboarding website.

Fifteen-year-old Blackburn is a nominee for Grom of the Year 2015 and Wrightsville Beach paddleboarder April Zilg is a nominee for Woman of the Year.

Blackburn said she first tried SUP when she was 12 years old.

“I was at a surf camp and one day there were no waves, so they decided to put us all out on paddleboards. I tried it and it was awesome and I just got hooked from there,” she said.

Blackburn’s love for paddleboarding has taken her to other coastal towns in North Carolina, California and Hawaii. In the spring, she was invited to a stand up paddle youth event in California as a junior pro.

“That was probably one of my happiest moments because I really wasn’t expecting it at all,” she said. “I was the only person from the East Coast to get invited. Everyone else was from Hawaii or California.”

Blackburn said her greatest challenge as a competitive paddleboarder is balancing schoolwork and training. As a rising sophomore, she said schoolwork and her studies are always going to be her top priority. Without sacrificing her academic progress, she still keeps sight of her dream to become a professional paddleboarder while training with her dad and her younger sister, Jenna.

“I definitely would love that dream to come true, but if it doesn’t it won’t dissatisfy me,” she said.

Blackburn is the only competitive paddleboarder in her group of high school friends, she said, but the diverse community of Wrightsville Beach paddleboarders has welcomed her.

“Our community of paddleboarders, no matter what age you are, is always going to be supportive of you and always welcoming,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what experience level you are. Just now on the East Coast they’ve started getting junior events and putting together clubs for younger kids, which has been great.”

Blackburn emphasizes anybody can become a paddleboarder.

“Anyone at any age can learn,” she said. “Rent a board or take lessons and just start from there.”

Blackburn’s next race will be the Fourth Annual Colonial SUP Race in New Bern, N.C. on Aug. 15, followed by Wrightsville Beach Wahine Classic on Aug. 16.

To vote for Anna, visit http://supconnect.com/awards/grom-of-the-year-2015

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