Wanaka-based paddleboarder Annabel Anderson was recently named the supreme winner of the Central Otago Sports Awards, recognising a remarkable 2017 sporting year: she was the number one stand up paddleboarder (SUP) in the world – her seventh consecutive year of the title, and the only female to hold the top ranked position.

Her 2017 SUP titles also include the ISA Long Distance World Champion, the ISA Long Technical World Champion and the Pacific Paddle Games Long Distance, Technical and Overall Champion.

Like other Kiwi athletes who excel in a sport which doesn’t feature large in New Zealand, 36-year old Annabel is probably better known overseas than she is in her homeland. But after eight years of international competition, competing with barely healed injuries and the constant travel on her own, Annabel is enjoying a quieter year spending some time at home in Wanaka to rest mind and body - "I had burned the candle at both ends.”

For the uninformed (including this Wanaka App reporter) competitive SUP is a combination of sprint kayaking, surf-lifesaving, outrigger canoe paddling and whitewater kayaking, mixed with the tactics of bike racing, according to Annabel. It’s played out down rivers and rapids, across lakes, over oceans and surf and "it’s a full contact sport, believe it or not”.

"What people think I do and what I actually do are two very different things,” she said. "I could not have scripted the last 10 years. I have thrived on the thrill of the chase.”

Her professional paddleboarding experience started when Annabel was based in England pursuing a career in marketing. In 2010, with her work visa about to expire and nursing a desire to travel, a random adventure presented itself in the guise of a SUP competition in Hamburg, Germany.

"I turned up to this world cup event in Germany and I managed to wangle an entry. I was super fit but I’d never been on a race board. It was basically a free weekend, all you had to do was turn up, and I walked away with second and 2000 Euros in my pocket.”

It was a classic tale of a New Zealander operating on the smell of an oily rag - "I had to turn up and win; that was the challenge”. She used international competitions to travel the globe, from Thailand to Europe, to Hawaii and back, each win paying her way to the next event.

"I did this crazy zigzag all over the world for the first year - it was like "The Amazing Race”, she said. She saw Paris, Hamburg and New York for the first time - all from the vantage point of a racing paddleboard.

At the conclusion of that first year she had won enough "to upset the applecart”. "So I thought this might be the time to take it seriously.” She knew she had strengths and weaknesses she could work on, and her performances brought her to the attention of sponsors, mostly equipment manufacturers.

The past two years though have been self-funded without sponsors. "I’ve been a privateer so I could do things my way to my values. It made life harder in some respects but also way easier as I didn’t have the pressure of someone else’s expectations.”

She’s never really had a mentor - "all my motivation has come from within” - but there has been one person who’s had her back, a former professional surfer and "the guy who’s always shaped my boards”, Bryan Szymanski.

Bryan’s that "uncle figure” who, from the beginning, encouraged her to succeed by "playing it like a game. What if we tried to do this and actually managed to pull it off?” The only expectation he put on her, Annabel said, was "to be a better person”.

Having been a competitive athlete for most of her adult life, from skiing and biking to running and triathlons, Annabel knew what it took to succeed. But without a traditional background in surfing or paddling, her rise to the top spot in the world and her ability to stay there for consecutive years was highly unusual, she said.

She accords her success to preparation, planning and process. "I don’t have a huge amount of self-confidence. I gain confidence from the execution of the process.”

"I can’t control the performance of others, or conditions, or decisions going against me but I can control the process. I get self-belief from nailing the process. When you get curve balls sent at you randomly, my ability to cope is because I know what cards I have to play.”

Annabel in open surf drives for the shore.

Annabel is also unusual in the international world of SUP in that she has been repeatedly successful over multiple disciplines, from long distance to technical paddleboarding to river boarding to surfing.

"One of the things that drew me to the sport was it’s variety,” she said, "one discipline complemented another. It’s also kind of the Kiwi mentality to just do everything.”

She competed in last year’s Ultimate Mountain Challenge, in Vail Colorado, but decided not to limit herself to just one or two events. Instead she took on all comers, entering all 11 running, biking and whitewater events over the course of two and a half days and came within one point of winning the entire challenge. "It was a comedy show, I even borrowed someone’s dog for the 5km dog race.”

She’s also relied heavily on her professional skills as "a pretty decent project manager” to pull off the demanding logistics. "I learned early on that anything that was critical to my success, I had to own it; and then if something goes wrong I have no-one to blame but myself.” She also built a network of friends she could call on for logistical support, such as lending equipment.

That’s not to say crucial gear hasn’t gone missing before an event and she’s had to improvise with borrowed gear but "things usually work out and it just makes for a better story to tell.”

Annabel has also been a guest presenter for World of Adventure Sports (a US TV show). "When they need a jack of all trades that they can throw into pretty much any situation I get a phone call.” Amongst other things, she’s rafted the Snake River for three days in the Grand Teton National Park and was sent to the Faroe Islands to hike and "jump off a cliff”.

But the thing she’s most proud of was leading a push to ensure women competing in SUP would win purses of equal value to the men. It made her angry to realise she would put in the same effort as the guys but win only a fraction of their earnings.

A social media campaign led to international media coverage and now women are getting paid the same. "I am more proud of having the courage to ask the questions, and use the responsibility of my position, than any trophy, or award or result.”

As for now, she’s not retired and she’s not taking time out. She doesn’t like to share her goals. She says as soon as you do that "life gets in the way and you have to adapt” and then you’re accused of not meeting you goals.

"I’m still travelling, I’m still surfing, riding bikes and taking the opportunity to do a bunch of things I haven’t had a chance to do in a very long time,” she said. "It’s time to recalibrate and take a breath.”

PHOTOS: Supplied