Community Sports

Gig Harbor teen ready to race on the national stage

Gig Harbor is preparing to welcome some of the best stand-up paddleboard racers in the country. Among them will be a 17-year-old who knows the harbor better than most.

Christiana “Roo” Truebenbach has spent years paddling the waters around Gig Harbor, first recreationally and eventually as a competitive racer. Now, she will have the chance to compete against racers from across the country when the USA SUP National Championships come to Gig Harbor Sept. 18 through 20.

One of Gig Harbor’s best paddle boarders

Truebenbach has finished first and second in races across the region, sometimes coming out ahead of paddlers much older than her. She has also become one of the few young competitive stand-up paddleboard racers in Gig Harbor.

Christiana “Roo” Truebenbach will compete in the Stand-Up Paddleboarding National Championships this week in Gig Harbor. Photo by Nathan Hyun

For Truebenbach, the national championships is an opportunity to race on familiar water while competing against a field that will be larger and more competitive than many of her previous races.

“I definitely am excited to see how the conditions are for the long course, because they change every year,” Truebenbach said. “I’m definitely excited to take my lines, see how I’m going to go and just paddle that and see how it goes.”

She plans to compete in the 10-kilometer distance race and the 100-meter sprints. She may also compete in the technical race.

Truebenbach’s goal is simple: Beat her personal record of 1 hour, 27 minutes in the 10K.

Road to the national championship

Truebenbach got into competitive paddleboarding after an injury changed the direction of her athletic career.

She had been competing with the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team when she injured her knee while skiing. The injury prevented her from kneeling in her canoe. So she started spending more time standing on a paddleboard.

At age 13, she competed in the 10K Narrows Challenge, becoming the youngest paddler to finish the race on a stand-up paddleboard. Paddleboarding quickly became the sport she wanted to pursue.

Christiana Truebenbach after finishing the 10-kilometer race at the 2022 Paddlers Cup. Photo by Kira Truebenbach

“I’ve always had a very competitive spirit,” Truebenbach said. “I always want to perform my best in what I’m doing.”

Tod Cole, a coach with the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team, was one of the people who helped her develop her skills. Dallas Edge, owner of Lee’s SUP and Kayak in Gig Harbor, also helped introduce Truebenbach to paddleboarding when she was young.

As Truebenbach became more serious about racing, she began traveling to Hood River, Oregon, where she trained with paddlers including Joel Yang and Fiona Wylde. Both became major influences on her development in the sport.

Those trips helped Truebenbach make the jump from someone who enjoyed paddleboarding to a competitive racer focused on performance.

“She has been diligent and persistent and also overcoming many things to stay focused and achieve her goals,” Cole said.

Christiana Truebenbach trains in Hood River, Oregon. Photo by Joel Yang

Love of water from the beginning

Paddleboarding was not exactly a sport Truebenbach discovered out of nowhere. She first got on a paddleboard when she was about 6 years old, paddling across the harbor.

Her family has always spent plenty of time around the water. Her mother, Kira Truebenbach, grew up around boats and still paddleboards recreationally.

Truebenbach tried swimming, kayaking and sprint canoe. But she said there is something about being on a stand-up paddleboard that has kept her coming back.

“There’s just like a certain feeling that you get on the water,” she said. “I have not experienced that same feeling in other water sports.”

That connection to the water kept her involved even when competitive paddleboarding can sometimes feel lonely. There are not many young competitive paddlers in Gig Harbor, and Truebenbach said she is often the only person her age she sees out on the water. Her mother said that makes the national championships especially meaningful.

“It’s just cool because we love Gig Harbor. This is like our local stomping grounds,” Kira said. “To see this type of a big nationwide event coming into our little fishing grotto community I think is just such an opportunity.”

Christiana Truenbach first got on a paddleboard when she was about 6 years old. She got into competitive racing more recently. Photo by Nathan Hyun

What’s next for Roo

Truebenbach is not sure exactly where paddleboarding will take her after high school. For now, she wants to continue racing and meeting more people in the sport. She also hopes events like the national championships can help grow competitive paddleboarding in Gig Harbor.

Cole said the local paddling community has plenty of recreational participants, but there are fewer young athletes competing at a high level.

“We’re hoping more young, under-18 … girls and boys will take up this sport for racing and seeing what it can do,” Cole said.

Truebenbach would like to see that, too. She said one of the things she enjoys most about paddleboarding is the community surrounding it. Even as a competitor, she does not view the other racers simply as opponents.

And while she has finished first against older competitors before, she knows the national championship will be different.

“That always makes it more challenging for everyone,” said Truebenbach. “In my opinion, it’s what makes it fun.”