Candice Appleby couldn’t help but feel fear.
The forecast called for massive 20-foot waves leading up to the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in Pichelimu, Chile. At the last Pan American Games in 2019, the stand-up paddle competitor suffered the worst wipeout of her life, slammed by the shorebreak as she neared the finish line, sucked out into a rip current and battered by wave after wave – a wipeout that cost her the gold medal.
“I knew I was going to have to trust God to do for me what I couldn’t do for myself, to give me strength I didn’t have,” Appleby said. “I learned a big lesson about fear. It’s a waste of time and energy.”
She found the strength and determination she needed to earn gold in the SUP racing division on Oct. 30 at the Pan American Games, a redemption four years in the making that puts her at the top of the sport she’s dominated for nearly two decades.
SUP surfer Zane Schweitzer and fellow SUP racer Connor Baxter, both from Maui, also earned gold for Team USA.
“I’m stoked and grateful and happy to be home,” Appleby said, fresh off the plane and back in San Clemente on Wednesday, Nov. 1. “I don’t know if it’s all sunk in yet.”
In total, 88 athletes from 16 countries competed in the SUP and surfing contests and 24 medals were won by athletes from nine different nations. Peru took the overall rankings lead with six medals, three of which were gold.
The Pan American Games are the world’s second largest sporting event next to the Olympics, with an estimated 6,000 athletes competing.
Appleby has also earned five International Surfing Association SUP world championships gold medals, three in technical races and two distance races, a silver in sprint, and a bronze technical medal.
Appleby earned her spot in the Chile event with her gold medal win in SUP technical at the ISA world championships in Puerto Rico last year.
She also qualified for the SUP surfing competition, but opted out after suffering increased pain throughout her shoulders, back and neck earlier this year from over training for the competition and helping others at her Ocean Academy in Dana Point, she said.
“My body hit a wall and said no more,” she said. “I was in a lot of pain for quite a few months.”
She eased up on her training and focused just on the SUP racing division. She was still dealing with an injury to her shin prior to the event that required stitches.
On the day of the races, organizers changed the course to better protect the athletes from the massive waves, she said, and “all my nerves went away and I wasn’t stressed anymore.”
With each lap, Appleby improved her lead, finishing 23 seconds ahead of the second-place opponent for a total time of 15 minutes, 24.90 seconds.
At age 38, Appleby said the race might be her last, she’s been thinking of retiring. When she won a world title last year, she thought of making a full-time comeback, but the sponsorship support for the sport wasn’t there. And with her company Ocean Academy thriving, she may focus her energy on helping others train, she said.
“Maybe I’ll do a race here and there. I’m not saying I’m totally throwing in the towel. If this is a swan song, this is a good one for me,” she said.
But if the sport makes it into the LA 28 Olympics, she’ll be back on board, she said.
“If SUP does make it in, for sure, I’m going for it.”
