Tomas Lacerda to be 1st SUP Athlete to Make the Crossing Between the Islands of Porto Santo and Madeira

TOMÁS LACERDA WILL BE THE 1ST SUP ATHLETE TO MAKE THE CROSSING BETWEEN THE ISLANDS OF PORTO SANTO AND MADEIRA

PRESS RELEASE

Funchal, 7th August 2023– The Portuguese professional Stand Up Paddle athlete Tomás Lacerda, who despite his youth, already has 20 national titles and has achieved excellent results in international competitions, will make the crossing between the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira on a SUP board, becoming the first athlete of the sport to accomplish this feat. This will be a highly physically demanding race, with the particularity of the arrival point being in Funchal, and not in Caniçal, totalling an ambitious and surprising 44 nautical miles (81 km).

The scheduled date for the race, which is always subject to last-minute changes if the weather and sea conditions are not favourable, is already Thursday, August 10th, with the starting point being the Porto Santo marina and the finishing point being the “On Water Academy” space in Praia Formosa.

Due to the specificity and demand of the race, it is only possible to carry it out with the authorisation of the representatives of the National Maritime Authority in the Region, the Captaincy of the Port of Funchal, and implies the involvement of search and rescue means at sea, namely SANAS – Voluntary Corps of Nautical Rescuers, which will accompany the athlete along the entire route.

In addition to the personal challenge of overcoming, since this will be the longest distance ever accomplished by the athlete, two important objectives are associated with this event: to give greater visibility to this sport, especially with regard to the potential of its practice in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, with the support of the Madeira Promotion Association (APM), and to support a charitable cause, in this case the Madeira Regional Centre of the Portuguese League Against Cancer. Regarding the choice of this institution, its President, Ricardo Sousa states “I was very touched by the young athlete’s memory of supporting the League and its patients, especially because Tomás also wants with this connection to honour his father, who died earlier this year, victim of this disease. It will therefore be a pride to associate the League with this project.”

The concrete support for this solidarity cause will consist of an event open to the public, to be held on the day of the athlete’s arrival, 10 August, at the “On Water Academy” space on Formosa beach, a brand that is positioned in the world of nautical activities and which has also joined this initiative. To this end, Tomás Lacerda has the collaboration of the Madeira Beer Company (ECM), which has provided some of its products to be sold in the space in question, with all sales values being delivered to the Madeira Regional Centre of the Portuguese League Against Cancer. To achieve the greatest success in this initiative, the athlete invites everyone to be present at the celebration of his arrival and to support with their consumption a solidarity cause that is particularly dear to him.

Among the many supporters of this initiative is Francisco Roque Pinho, Co-founder of Team Red Herrings, a giant wave surfing team to which the athlete also belongs, who speaks about the athlete with heartfelt admiration: “Tomás continues to surprise us with his athleticism, dedication, resilience and generosity. He spent last winter out of the water due to a serious injury and suffered the sudden loss of his father. He didn’t let it get him down. He underwent surgery, worked on his recovery and trained hard, achieving extraordinary results in recent months in SUP, his sport of choice.

His performance at the Alicante SUP Open Sprints was remarkable: not only did he knock out World Champion Shuri Araki on his way to the final, he became the first Portuguese athlete to earn a coveted spot on the prestigious APP World Tour, the world’s professional SUP circuit. Instead of stopping between competitions to rest, Tomás now proposes to carry out an unprecedented SUP crossing between Porto Santo and Madeira. This adventure, in addition to promoting the sport, is associated with a cause that is close to everyone – the fight against cancer. We can only thank and wish good luck to Tomás who, despite being the baby of our team, epitomises the values of Team Red Herrings: courage, determination and an unceasing desire to make a difference!”