iQFoil young talents: Sophia Meyer and Lenny Friemel with top results at the World Youth Championships
SURF Redaktion
· 18.12.2023
At the Youth World Championships in the pre-Olympic boat classes in Buzios, Brazil, Berlin-based Sophia Meyer from the Seglerhaus am Wannsee e.V. club and Bavarian Lenny Friemel from the Wacker Burghausen e.V. sports club represented Germany in the iQFoil. In total, more than 400 young people from over 60 nations took part in the championship. 53 surfers competed in the iQFOiL class. In addition to Meyer and Friemel, there were ten other German starters in other boat classes.
The starting field was made up of the best from each nation and, although not very large compared to other iQFoil events, the quality was extremely high. "Sophia and Lenny showed that Germany doesn't have to hide in the youth category either, after Sebastian Kördel showed the potential of the German iQFOiLers in the senior category again this year," said a delighted Leon Delle, who was on site as a coach.
Sophia Meyer temporarily on course for a podium finish
Sophia Meyer, who finished ninth in The Hague last year, proved once again that she is one of the best young female surfers in the world. While she was still in third place overall on the third day of the competition thanks to her good results and a first place in the second race, in the end she often had to settle in the midfield in very strong winds and was unable to maintain her solid performance from the first few days to the finish. After finishing second at the U19 World Championship in Cadiz in October, she was able to finish the 2023 World Sailing Youth World Championship in Brazil in eighth place overall, bringing her season to a close with a very solid result.
Lenny Friemel from the Bavarian state squad was also able to demonstrate his potential in his first participation in this exceptional event. The 17-year-old young athlete showed his potential this year by winning the International German Youth Championships and finishing in the top third at the Youth World Championships in Cadiz. With four top 10 results, Lenny did very well in the strong field. In the end, he finished the regatta in the top half of the overall field in 16th place.
The men's category was won by S tanislaw Trepczynski from Poland and Kristyna Pinosova from the Czech Republic ahead of Lina Erzen from Slovenia.
The Youth Olympic Games
The competition format of the World Youth Championships differs from the "usual" championships of the respective international class associations in several areas. Similar to the Olympic Games, only one athlete from each nation is allowed to compete in each boat class. This is why the World Sailing Youth World Championships are often colloquially referred to as the Youth Olympic Games.
In order to be nominated by the German Sailing Association, there are two qualifying competitions at national level in advance. For the iQFoilers in 2023, this was the International German Youth Championship on Lake Wittensee and the Youth World Championship in Cadiz, Spain. Team Germany was supervised by three coaches. The iQFoil class was coached by Leon Delle, a licenced B coach, former squad athlete and employee of the German Sailing Association (DSV), who usually works behind the scenes looking after the board sports disciplines at the DSV and is active in the field of coach training and further education, among other things.
Sophia Meyer will compete in the senior class in 2024
It was Sophia Meyer's last year in the iQFOiL Youth U19 class. She will move straight on to the senior material, which for women in the transition from the U19 to the senior class simply means switching to a larger board. She will be competing on this at the iQFoil World Championships in Lanzarote at the end of January, where she will have the chance to secure the remaining national ticket for the 2024 Olympic Games in the women's category.
Lenny will continue on the iQFOiL Youth material for another year. He will try to defend his youth championship title in 2024. He will also try to qualify again for the 2024 World Sailing Youth World Championships, which will take place on Lake Garda in July. He would like to be even further up the field there next year. The qualifying competitions are expected to take place from 18-21 April 2024 in Schilksee near Kiel and from 7-11 May 2024 in Campione on Lake Garda.
All regatta dates and additional training camps can be found on the website of the class association, Deutsche Windsurfing Vereinigung e.V.: dwsv.net
Text: Leon Delle
