(Right to left: Nick, Susanne Lier, Tiago and Jen)
Location
Lisbon, Portugal
Favorite place to paddle
My passion is the ocean and the Portugal southwest coast (Costa
Alentejana) is definitely my favourite place to paddle. It’s perfect because
there are a large number of different beaches and they are all not crowded with
absolutely perfect waves for SUP. With bright and clean water, in this location
you can also find one of the warmer weathers around Portugal.
What attracted you to SUP?
As soon as I stepped up on a paddleboard I knew that this platform
would test my fitness levels further than I could ever imagine. With a large
background in different sports both in and out of the water, I immediately saw
the benefits that SUP could provide in terms of my physical skills. I could
work my balance, my core and the power of my muscles all at the same time!
Having the possibility of going everywhere I wanted on water, catching a bigger
number of waves per session and riding them for a longer period was definitely
things that attracted me to this sport.
Describe your first SUP experience
I started in the South
Shore of Lisbon in Costa da Caparica on I think the first school (Kite School) riding
pretty big and heavy 11' foot paddleboards and heavy alloy paddles, that at the
time seemed to be very impressive! I think that by that time thinking of SUP
Surfing in shortsup boards like the ones riders use at the world tour now was
something really far from reality. I remember that I struggled with this big
board in my first 2 sessions, but on the third I was already catching small
waves. I started to paddle because as a trainer, I immediately saw the benefits
that this sport would bring for me and my clients in terms of overall wellness
and fitness. It is an unstable platform that challenges your proprioceptive
system, your core strength and muscle power. Linking that to being able to be
in contact with the ocean, soon turned SUP into my favourite sport.
Why do you keep paddling?
It's the thing I most enjoy doing in life without any doubts and
would only trade it for a really small number of personal things. I'm sure that
if I have the opportunity I will do it until the end of my days. Launching Functional Paddling was an easy decision to mix my
passion and knowledge and skills. I was already a personal trainer before starting
to SUP, but all the knowledge I got from my university degree and the past
experience with my personal training clients body awareness and learning
capability let me make a smooth transition and connection between human
movement, physiology and performance on a SUP board. That's why I created
Functional Paddling, to help paddlers getting to higher levels of performance
by creating a better connection between paddler, paddle and board.
Where do you dream of paddling?
I dream to paddle in Thailand, Hawaii and Costa Rica
How are you involved with your local SUP community?
I write monthly articles about SUP Conditioning for a Portuguese
SUP magazine called SUP Lovers which has supported Functional Paddling since
day one. I train local athletes for SUP racing and have my own SUP Surf
company, Portugal SUP Camp, where I organize SUPfaris and Camps all along the coast.
I also organize a yearly 2 day SUP meeting in Portugal South West coast
were people from all over the country can join for free, and have a great time
SUPing and talking
Why are you excited about live love sup?
I feel very good
vibes coming out of this project! Nick and Jen are doing a great job uniting
paddlers all around the world and also helping charity: water through their
Merchandising and Events. I'm very happy to be part of this community and I'm
looking forward to be involved with it this season bringing LLS to people of my
local community and all over Portugal.
Welcome to the team Tiago. We spent an amazing week with Tiago and fellow LLS Brand Ambassador Susanne Lier in Feurteventura. Lots of great paddling including some cross training OC4 with Eric Terrien...
