Introducing SUP Storyteller: Damodara Mokhniuk

Introducing Damodara Mokhniuk, one of the rising stars in the SUP community.

With years of experience under his belt, Damodara has become a PRO rider competed with seniors since his 15 y.o. leading the Ukrainian brand “Rapid Sup” with an incredible ability to tell a story. His race recaps are so vivid and detailed that they transport you right into the heat of the competition. Make sure you follow Damodara at his social network.

We are thrilled to have Damodara at our platform as a new expert who will share story and experience with YOU paddlers. He is an incredibly talented individual and a key player in the Ukrainian SUP community. With his passion for the sport and his exceptional skills, we have no doubt that he will inspire many young athletes to take up the challenge and pursue their dreams.

So if you’re looking for some inspiration and motivation, be sure to check out Damodara’s articles on our platform. We promise you won’t be disappointed! We give the floor to expert and suggest we get to know each other better:

Hello fellow paddlers!

My name is Damodara, I’m 17 y.o. professional SUP racer from Ukraine and a new author of the “Union Paddlers” project. 

“Union Paddlers” is a SUP oriented platform. It’s a place where every SUP paddler can find a one click solution for comfortable paddling all around the globe. Union Paddlers provide exclusive and unique SUP related content in order to build a great future for our passion which is SUP sport of course.

I joined to the Andrey Kraitor and I can tell right away – We are looking for talented enthusiasts, who also wants to develop and move our sport. 

Who am I? 

I am a passionate paddler, a rider of the Rapid SUP team (Ukrainian SUP brand), an author, Ukrainian Junior SUP Champion, ICF SUP Ranking Race Junior category winner and ICF SUP World Championships Team Event bronze medalist from the small Ukrainian city of Izmail in the Odessa region, the southernmost city in Ukraine. I used to spend a lot of time on the water on the wonderful Danube River in my home paddling club. I’ve been paddling since 2014, starting from sea touring kayak, doing dozens of tours, and covering thousands of kilometers. I switched to SUP in 2017 after three years of kayaking and I didn’t regret a single moment by choosing this sport.

In 2018, I won my first significant SUP race in the Junior category. I grew step by step, did countless hours of training, and in 2021, joined the Rapid SUP Team. I was only 15 at that time but this did not stop me to move to the Ukrainian capital city – Kyiv (800 km from my home), start to work at Rapid SUP, continue to study at school, and always move towards my goal to be part of the SUP-World, which did not change until now. 

In May 2022, due to the full-scale russian invasion to Ukraine I moved to Austria with the generous help and support from Rapid SUP, UFSS (Ukrainian Federation of SUP and Surfing), SEPA, Izmail Kayak Club, Austrian SUP Federation, SUP Sportclub Graz and Christian Taucher personally. Now I live in the City of Graz and I have the opportunity to study, train and build my future in a wonderful and safe environment.

Back in 2020 I started to write recaps every event I took part in. It wasn’t easy from the start, but with some extra effort and motivation from my first coach (Slava Makarov), these recaps became regular and easier. 

After a lot of positive feedback on my posts and some encouragement from people who follow my accounts on Facebook and Instagram, I am thrilled to do the next step and join Union Paddlers platform as author and blog writer. I want to share my point of view about the SUP sport, events, races and people and to help building the future of the Stand Up Paddling.

Follow my blog on Union Paddlers and through social media and receive updates on upcoming events. Stay in touch!