Leonard Nika

Italy

”The vision hit me. Fast drop, slam into a bottom turn, carve off the top, drive down the face, repeat. That’s it”

 

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Achievements

– 7x Italian Champion 2012-18
– 3rd Paris ( France) Crossing APP World Tour, 2018
– 2nd Bilbao (Spain) World SUP Challenge, 2017
– 3rd San Francisco Battle of the Bay, California – USA, 2017
– 3rd Long Distance European SUP Championship, Portugal 2017
– 4x European SUP Champion Race 12/ 13/ 14/ 17 , hes one of the top 5 riders in the world!
– 2nd Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge, Oregon (USA), 2016
– 3rd Stand Up World Series in Barcelona 2015
1st Eurosup Race 2013
2nd Race World Cup Event in Hamburg (Germany), 2013
– 1st SUP Paris Crossing 2013

About

Leonard Nika began surfing at age of 10 when his family moved from Torino to Rome, near the coast in Italy.
The passion for surfing has come natural to Leonard, it did not take much for the passion to become talent. After many surfing competitions around Italy, in the summer of 2008 Nika was introduced to Stand Up Paddling (SUP) and a few months after taking the first wave with a Stand Up Paddle board, he had already climbed the rankings in the Italian and European competitions both, Wave and Race. Sponsored by Naish at the beginning, for two consecutive years, currently runs the world competing for the leading brand Starboard.

Completing his missions, Nika has ridden big waves on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, including Capo Mannu – Sardinia, Hossegor – France, Mundaka-Spain and Super Tubos -Portugal.
When Leonard is not busy traveling the World, he likes to teach stand up surfing and support the others who would like to approach this sport and show his training skills at his sup surf High-performance center Of Peniche-Portugal.
Leonard moved to Cascais for improve his daily training during the off season in a perfect conditions with the power of the ocean, Portugal have a lot to offer for Stand up paddling many flat water spots to discover and mostly open ocean conditions while enjoying the culture and ambiente here in Portugal.

Leo has been ridding for Starboard since he was 21 years old, currently 10 years on board!

+ Info

Nationality: Italian
Favourite discipline: SUP Surfing
Favourite SUP Locations: Peniche (Portugal)
APP World Tour Ranking: currently 10
SUP Racer Ranking: currently 19
Hobbies: Skating, surfing, running, biking
Other Sponsors: Black Project Sup, Garmin Marine

Contact info

Portugal

Articles Featuring Leonard Nika

SUP Surfing Starboard-Teammates-on-2022-EuroSUP-Podium-1

Starboard Teammates on 2022 EuroSUP SUP Surf Podium

Starboard Dream Team riders Benoit Carpentier (France) and Leo Nika (Italy) put on stellar performances to earn Silver and Bronze medals respectively in the men’s SUP surfing that took place in Hvide Sande, Denmark.     “Vice European Champion! It was another great experience with team France. Thanks, everyone for the messages. Now let’s work…

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Dream TeamNews

Meet the 2022 Starboard Dream Team!

Sure, 2021 wasn’t quite as bad as 2020. But let’s be honest – it wasn’t great either. Constant events cancellation, new travel restrictions, logistic delays and many other challenges. But our Dream Team Riders never stop. We are proud of every paddler who keeps charging and growing within our sports. With that said, our team…

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