Edonays Caballero

¨The love of the sea, to forget everything while I’m paddling is one of the things that most I fell in love with SUP¨

Having one of the greats of SUP riders from Panama at Up Suping is a real pleasure. How are you Edonays?

Hi there! Greetings to all from Panama, it is my pleasure to meet new friends from other countries with whom I share the same passion for SUP. Being able to establish this communication with new friends starting in 2022 is an honour.

We see you on social networks very motivated for this new year, right?

Too motivated starting this 2022. Currently in preparation for my future races, starting programming after the offseason. Being able to start the year being the Central American champion for the first time and knowing that I will be able to travel to Spain, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, USA to compete against the best paddlers in the world has me more than motivated. In previous years due the pandemic made it almost impossible for me to travel due to restrictions, now waiting for the world to come out of the pandemic, I have several trips planned for 2022.

I started approximately 6-7 years ago in this beautiful sport. I realized that I liked paddling, little by little I was leaving my crossfit programming and transferring my training to the water, when I realized that I had the possibility of becoming the national champion if I prepared myself in the best way (this is the first water sport I doing in my whole life).

Three years passed and I had to train very hard to become the national champion of Panama in which I had many ups and downs. One of the best things that happened to me was meeting my coach (Seychelle SUP world champion) with whom I have been doing my sports preparation in a more professional way for 4 years.

Tell us about your first international SUP Race competitions. What did it feel like to be paddling in a different environment? I’m sure you got great learning...

My first competition was in Miami, Florida, in which I faced 2 professionals such as the Brazilian Eri Tenorio and the professional known for the Molukai to Oahu races, Josh Riccio. In this race, I was able to finish 4th as my first international race. After this, that same year 2017 in the month of October I had the opportunity to compete in the PPG (Pacific Paddle Games) with the best in the world, an elite of waterman paddlers, who showed me what the true level is. of SUP professionals worldwide (Connor, Casper, Moe, Danny Ching, Bruno Hasulyo, Daniel Hasulyo, Lincon, Martin Vitry).

And of course, representing Panama in big events like the Pan American Games in Rosario and the ISA World Cup in El Salvador will have been incredible!

One of the best experiences I’ve had in my life, being able to represent my flag in these 2 events is something of a dream for any competitive person. Argentina and El Salvador Surf City were places that I will not forget, my first participation as an athlete of the Panamanian team

We have also seen you participate in SUP11 City, an Ultra event that brings out the best in each participant, both physically and mentally. Do you like these hard races?

At the last minute, I was given the opportunity to go to SSUP11 City thanks to my spon-sor Mistral who invited me to do the race (the only problem was training as I only had 40 days to prepare). This is an opportunity that presented itself to me and despite knowing that I would have to paddle approximately 40-45km, I decided to accept the challenge (a distance that I had never paddled before). I was able to complete the event as the first Central American racer to perform in the elite category. I ended up very happy since this was one of the events that helped me grow as a professional aracer, not to mention that I achieved something that seems crazy paddling 220km. More than a physical challenge, it was a mental challenge, the body will always hurt, but in those moments of pain and fatigue, the mind makes the body move.

Are training, good nutrition and a lot of sportsmanship part of your life to achieve your big goals?

Training 365 days a year. No Days off, this is one of the keys to being better (when I say training, it’s not just physical training, but I also mean mental training, eating, resting...everything in general). As for food, I have a varied diet in which my motto is to eat as natural as possible, avoiding everything that is highly processed. I really like vegan food, I realized that my body does not tolerate red meat very well which I eat very little and I have changed for more plant based options.

Well, this is my own project that I am developing this year together with 2 friends and with one of my sponsors Stand Up Panama (store in Panama which gives me my board, paddles and all my SUP equipment). It is a project that tries to make SUP more known in our country and throughout the region, in which we are carrying out outings with approximately 40 paddlers or more and we give classes to beginners who want to start the sport. We have a group of more advanced paddlers who do classes to learn techniques every Thursday. As one of my main goals with this project is to make Latin America and more than all of Panama known, that the world knows that in this region we have good paddlers.

Like a very athletic person…What are the things that catch you the most in this sport, and how do you see your future?

The love of the sea, forgetting about everything while I’m paddling is one of the things that made me fall in love with SUP the most; not to mention that later I learned to surf on my 14¨ boards and well, now I am even more in love with the sea because of the adrenaline of being able to surf. I am currently training and modifying some things of my 2021 training routine, since this year I want to try some new trainings that I have seen have resulted in improving my performance in a general way.

In the future of this same year 2022, I see myself travelling and gaining more experience as an athlete, raising my level, learning from the best in the world in the most prestigious races that will be presented to me (such as the 3 races that I will do in Spain: 1 of the Spanish national circuit and 2 of the EuroTour). In addition to this, I have many other private races in mind and several races of the Panama Olympic Cycle such as the Central American Games, Central American and Caribbean Games El Salvador, Beach Games, ISA World Cup 2022 Puerto Rico, South American and Pan American. Chile 2023.

What do you think are your main qualities when it comes to paddling and what are you working on to improve?

I feel that without realizing it I was able to develop the explosive force in my paddling being very good in short Sprint or Technical races. As I like the waves, I spend a lot of time training surfing on my 14’ board, both inputs and outputs, I have a lot of fun. This has helped me gain good balance and control in swell conditions. I would like to improve in flat conditions, since I feel it is my weakness as a rower, I am very used to paddling in the sea and well, this 2022 I plan to change that by rowing on a river called Chagres. A river that connects with the Panama Canal in which paddling activity can be developed very well in its flat waters.

We will be very aware of your worldwide projection. What great riders on the planet would you like to measure yourself against?

Bruno Hasulyo, is one of those I want to measure myself the most. For me, he is a complete paddler, an athlete who 5 years ago I had the opportunity to meet here in my country before becoming world champion. I remember at that time, Bruno told me that he wanted to be the best distance paddler in the world, I told him back that I wanted to be the national champion of my country. And well, today Bruno is a world champion and I was able to reach my goal of being a national champion and still pass it, be considered the Central American champion. Connor Baxter, when I started in this sport I always saw Connor for his natural way of paddling, his own style of being able to analyze the sea and use the sea to his ad-vantage. Seeing him in many races, was that I discovered and improved many aspects of my style. As I got better copying one of the best in the world, I realized the hours and hours of work that Connor puts into his training. For this reason, I want to face him, facing these Elite paddlers will help me raise my level and have that racing experience that is so essential to improving as a SUP athlete.

Thanks to…

Thanks to my friends from Up Suping for this interview, without realizing it you are helping me fulfil my dream which is to make the sport of SUP more known and to make my Panama known. Thanks to my friends from SUP One too, because thanks to them I was able to organize and have plans to travel to Spain in 2022. Thanks to @standup_ panama: my store in Panama which helps me to get the best SUP equipment which helps me to be ready with all my supplies, @seychellesup: my coach, my guide in all my preparation, @rehabtriningroompty: the one who helps me see my weaknesses to strengthen them, @btasustencia, @globalfvm: my travel insurance that never leaves me alone when traveling, @ ethe-realbeautypa my sunscreen, @panamasupfx my project which I hope will grow with me throughout this path of sports life that I lead. To all the people who support me here in Panama, which are many, and to those who support me in other countries. Thank, without you this is not possible!