World champion. Puerto Rican. Chiropractor. Professional athlete. Fierce competitor.
Mariecarmen Rivera Rivera has established herself among the world's elite stand-up paddle racers, competing across sprint, technical and distance formats and proving that she can perform in just about any conditions. But behind the medals and podiums is a story built on years of work, perseverance, sacrifice and an unwavering belief in herself.
Her journey is also one that can inspire women of every age. Whether you are a young girl dreaming of becoming an elite athlete or a woman picking up a paddle for the first time later in life, Mariecarmen's message is remarkably similar: start, enjoy the process and believe in what you are capable of.
From Puerto Rico to SUP Racing
Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Mariecarmen was athletic from an early age. Before SUP entered her life, she participated in gymnastics and canoeing, experiences that helped build an athletic foundation long before she stepped onto a race board.
She began SUP racing in 2015, but becoming a full-time athlete didn't happen overnight.
For eight years, from 2015 through 2023, she balanced SUP training and competition with school and work. She earned a bachelor's degree in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico and later completed her Doctor of Chiropractic degree at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Florida.
Then, in 2023, she made a major decision.
She gave herself the opportunity to pursue the dream she had been carrying for years: becoming a full-time elite athlete.
Mariecarmen says she had always been extremely competitive and believed she was capable of racing alongside the best paddlers in the world. But believing it and actually doing it were two different things.
She knew the process wasn't going to be easy. She chose to do it anyway.
Learning That Success Isn't Only About Winning
One of the most interesting things about Mariecarmen's journey is how her definition of success has evolved.
She admits that early in her career, not winning could be extremely frustrating. Experience eventually changed her perspective.
Today, she is proud of all her competitions and accomplishments, whether she won or lost. Each came at the right moment in her development and taught her something she needed at that stage of her career.
Every result was built through effort, consistency, hard work and, perhaps most importantly, refusing to stop believing in herself.
One achievement, however, holds a particularly special place in her story: winning her first world championship medal at the 2022 ISA World SUP Championship in Puerto Rico.
Doing it on home waters made an already important milestone even more meaningful.
Technical Racing: Where Anything Can Happen
Being competitive across sprint, technical and distance racing requires very different physical and tactical abilities.
Mariecarmen enjoys all three, but if she has to choose, technical racing is her favorite.
Technical races combine multiple elements of SUP racing, including speed, buoy turns, positioning, strategy and board handling. Add waves to the equation and she likes it even more.
She describes technical racing almost like an obstacle course, where anything can happen.
Sprint and distance racing each present their own challenges, and being competitive in all three requires an enormous amount of training.
When it comes to conditions, Mariecarmen considers herself an all-around paddler capable of performing across different environments. But given a choice, you'll find her happiest racing in the ocean and waves.
That shouldn't be too surprising for an athlete born and raised in Puerto Rico.
What Does It Take to Train Like a World Champion?
The answer is a lot of work.
When preparing for a major competition, Mariecarmen may train approximately three sessions per day, combining time on the water, gym work and alternative forms of training.
Her education as a chiropractor gives her an additional understanding of the human body, but she is also quick to point out that elite performance isn't something she manages alone.
She works with professionals who help her push her body while doing so in a healthy and sustainable way.
Her philosophy is an important lesson for recreational athletes as well:
It's not about who does the most. It's about who trains the smartest.
Training needs to be adapted to the individual athlete rather than simply adding more volume for the sake of doing more.
The Mental Side of SUP Racing
At the World Championship level, physical preparation alone isn't enough.
Mariecarmen believes an athlete needs to arrive at a competition 100 percent physically prepared and 100 percent mentally prepared.
Once race day arrives, competitors, conditions and strategy can all influence what happens. The mental and physical sides of performance work together.
But she doesn't wait until race day to practice dealing with pressure.
That preparation happens every day during training.
By the time she reaches the starting line, competing under pressure feels natural. In her words, she simply does what she already knows how to do.
It's a powerful concept for paddlers at any level: race-day confidence is built during training.
Choosing the Right SUP Equipment for the Race
At the elite level, equipment selection becomes another part of race strategy.
Mariecarmen races with Infinity SUP boards, Quickblade paddles and Black Project fins, and she adjusts her setup depending on race distance, format and conditions.
Each brand offers different equipment options, allowing an athlete to create a combination suited to the particular race and personal preference.
Her favorite Infinity race board?
The Infinity EverReady.
There is no single setup for every situation. Equipment is another tool an experienced racer learns to adapt.
Racing With Puerto Rico in Her Heart
For Mariecarmen, representing Puerto Rico internationally carries meaning far beyond racing results.
She describes an enormous sense of pride every time she has the opportunity to represent the island and put Puerto Rico on the world stage.
That visibility matters.
She's not only showing what a Puerto Rican athlete can accomplish. She's giving younger athletes, particularly girls, someone they can look at and think, maybe I can do this too.
Her advice to those girls is simple: dare to try.
Start because it's fun. Enjoy it. Don't rush through the stages of becoming an athlete.
That last point is particularly important in a culture where young athletes can quickly become focused on results. Mariecarmen's career demonstrates that development takes time. She began SUP racing in 2015 and didn't become a full-time athlete until 2023.
There were eight years of life, education, work, training and racing between those two points.
"It's Never Too Late"
Her message isn't only for young athletes.
I specifically asked Mariecarmen what she would say to an adult woman who believes she's too old to start paddling, training or discovering her athletic side.
Her response deserves attention:
It's never too late.
The present is the best opportunity you have to pursue something you want to do.
You don't have to become a World Champion. You don't even have to race.
You can get stronger. Learn to paddle. Improve your fitness. Discover what your body can do. Enter your first SUP race at 40, 50 or 60. Or simply get on the water because it makes you happy.
The important part, as Mariecarmen repeatedly comes back to, is enjoying the process.
A Legacy Bigger Than Championships
Perhaps my favorite answer from our conversation came when I asked Mariecarmen what she ultimately wants her legacy to be.
Her answer wasn't about medals.
She wants her legacy to become bigger than any championship.
The titles matter because they represent years of work, but she wants to be remembered as a Puerto Rican woman who worked hard, never gave up and always represented Puerto Rico with pride and heart.
Most importantly, she wants her journey to inspire the generations that follow her, particularly young girls.
She wants them to understand that they can dream big and that discipline, sacrifice and confidence in themselves can take them much farther than they may imagine.
If her career opens a door for another young woman or simply gives her the confidence to pursue her own dream, Mariecarmen considers that a greater accomplishment than another title.
That's a pretty powerful definition of being a champion.
Quick Finish With Mariecarmen
- Favorite race format: Technical
- Favorite place to paddle: Puerto Rico
- Favorite training: Surfing
- Training she doesn't love but knows she needs: Swimming
- Favorite Infinity board: EverReady
- Flat water or ocean: Ocean
- Morning or afternoon training: Morning
- Athlete she admires: Simone Biles
- One SUP goal still on her list: To see SUP racing become an Olympic sport and have the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games.
More Than a SUP Champion
What stands out about Mariecarmen Rivera isn't simply that she is fast on a paddleboard.
It's the path she took to get there.
She balanced education, work and competition for years before giving herself the opportunity to become a full-time athlete. She experienced frustration and losses. She kept training. She learned. She adapted. And she continued believing she belonged among the best paddlers in the world.
For those of us who love SUP, athletes like Mariecarmen show us what's possible at the highest level of our sport.
For women and girls, her story carries an even broader message.
You don't need to know exactly where your journey will take you when you begin.
Get started. Put in the work. Enjoy the process. And never underestimate how far you can go.
Instagram: @mariecarmen_rivera
Facebook: Mariecarmen Rivera Rivera
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