April Zilg - Stand up Paddle Racer

Today we caught up with North Carolina's favorite female SUP athlete to hear about how she got into paddling and where she sees things heading.

April talks about the change in her attitude toward fitness both before and after SUP and how the first race she entered gave her a new passion and drive in life. Since that race she's put in the time and the effort to firmly plant herself among the top 10 fastest female paddlers in the world. What's especially inspiring is that she's the only one from the east coast of the US where year-round training is challenging and ocean conditions not ideal for getting ready to compete on the world stage.

She's found a nice balance between her work and her paddling career giving her the necessary time to train while passing on the skills and passion of stand up paddling to her clients and students. In doing so she had to leave the marine science lab where she used to apply her masters degree in oceanography. She's still studying the ocean, but doing so from a completely different perspective.

We've all seen April's big smile and high energy at the top of the podium in almost every local race she enters. She's also one of the humblest competitors in the sport and can always be seen congratulating her competitors and encouraging more women to get involved in the sport. She says that competition doesn't drive her performance and instead her fitness and training are fueled by the desire to lead a healthy and active life. What better way to do that than to paddle every day.

I was especially proud to see her place in the top 5 at PPG last year among the best women in the world and doing so with a huge smile. All that paddling and training paid out huge that day. And I know April was beyond stoked to be on the podium that afternoon realizing how far she'd come from that first race in Carolina where the spark was lit and the fire had just started to burn.

Enjoy the show.

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