When fathers are among the icons of a sport, children sometimes have a hard time. How is the young Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. supposed to grow up without constantly being compared to his dad? It's similar for Liam Dunkerbeck - his father Björn is one of the most successful professional athletes in the world, having won 42 world championship titles. We asked Liam Dunkerbeck for an interview.
Liam, your father told me to do the interview with you in German. Is that a good idea?
I don't know how he came up with that.
He says you should practise the language. So that you can give an interview in German when you win the World Cup on Sylt one day. People would like that...
Not a chance, it'll go wrong. Let's stick to English instead, shall we?
All right. Given that we've just caught you at the Wingfoil World Cup in Leucate, do we need to worry about you moving away?
No, don't worry. But I've always been someone who has done lots of different water sports. A few years ago, I was the Canary Islands surfing champion and I've also travelled a lot on the SUP. I don't just see myself as a professional windsurfer, but as a professional water sportsman. My goal is simply to get as much water time as possible. That includes wingfoiling, which is why I'm here in Leucate right now.
What is your favourite discipline? Does it depend on the conditions? If you could choose between surfing, SUPing, foiling or windsurfing in perfect conditions, what would you choose?
I really like freestyle with the wingsurfer, but actually windsurfing in the waves is the most fun for me. Nothing beats a good session at home in Pozo, with lots of wind and high jumps. Jumping is what fascinates me most about windsurfing.
When your father was at the peak of his success in the 90s, many worldcuppers competed in several disciplines - the overall title was the most important. Since then, the scene has become more and more specialised in order to keep pace with developments. How do you reconcile all this?
I love doing different things. When I go surfing, SUPing or wingfoiling, it simply means more hours on the water - especially when the conditions aren't right for wave windsurfing. In the end, my windsurfing performance also benefits from this.
So you're going the Kai Lenny way?
That's a good example. Kai Lenny is on the water every day, he has an incredible level in all areas. My father also showed at the time that you can do several disciplines at the highest level. That is also my goal.
Is Kai Lenny a guy you look up to?
Kai is the benchmark for me. If I could manage to get to his level one day, that would be great. I hope that we can be on the water together one day, that's my dream. Kai Lenny is without doubt the best water sports all-rounder of our time.
Nevertheless, he will probably not be able to win a world title in surfing, kitesurfing, wingsurfing or windsurfing against riders who specialise in one sport. How does that fit in with Dunkerbeck's winning gene?
That's right. Essentially, I'll be concentrating on wave windsurfing and going on the wingfoil freestyle tour. The other things will take second place. My goal is clearly to win a world title at some point. I've been competing in the youth events of the PWA World Tour for a long time and now I want to compete in the adult tour as well.
There's a video on YouTube in which you give us a glimpse into your material store. It's pretty impressive. Do you have any idea how many boards are in there?
Wow, difficult question. There are quite a few: Windsurf boards for waves and foilsurfing, wingboards, surfboards, a few SUPs - I reckon there must be around 50 across all sports and disciplines.
Many young people dream of the World Cup. What advice would you give them? Train first and then start at a high riding level? Or start early with contests and accept the risk of falling flat on your face?
I would always recommend taking part in contests at an early age. The PWA offers a good chance to do this through the youth events. The first time I took part in Pozo, I couldn't do a loop or anything like that, just a few normal jumps. Of course I had no chance of winning, but the experience is worth its weight in gold. You surf with other kids and push each other. And above all, you learn how contest surfing works. There's a big difference between being good at free surfing and having to get everything on the water in ten minutes. You need experience for that.
What do you still need to learn in order to win a contest?
Certain manoeuvres, of course - and above all, being able to deliver them consistently. And of course I still lack experience at spots away from Pozo. Every spot is different, you need a feeling for how the wave breaks so that the timing is right.
You know the youth scene in various sports. Is windsurfing still popular among young people? Or do young people now all want to go wingsurfing, kitesurfing or surfing?
I'm not worried about windsurfing at all, the sport is just too good for that. When I see hundreds of young people racing together in the iQFOiL (new Olympic board class, editor's note), it's great. Perhaps interest in some disciplines like slalom is declining somewhat. But other disciplines such as foiling are booming. The bottom line is that windsurfing still has a lot to offer. You see it every day here in Pozo too. If there are 60 people out here, half of them are kids.
Are there perhaps more Dunkerbecks waiting in the wings to follow the same path as you? You have three siblings.
My sisters do gymnastics at a very high level, but my 9-year-old brother is quite a water rat. At the moment, his heart beats more for SUPing and surfing, but it's clear that he also has a lot of talent for windsurfing - more than he perhaps realises.
We can't avoid talking about your father. He collected 42 titles. Big shoes to fill, aren't they?
Of course, these are the biggest possible shoes to fill.
Do you get the feeling that everyone expects something special from you just because your name is Dunkerbeck?
There are probably people who think that I should have done at least one triple loop as soon as I was born - just because of my surname. I certainly have a bit of talent in my genes, but to be successful it also takes a lot of work and training in the background. It's not like I rig the sail and my dad sits in the car and controls me with a joystick like in a video game.
Is it sometimes easier to be Björn's son? Or does it make things more complicated?
To be honest, I don't think people automatically expect more from me than from other windsurfers. It has actually opened a lot of doors for me, of course, he simply knows the whole scene and it would be pretty stupid not to utilise these contacts. But ultimately it's only up to me to become successful, not my father. I go to school for seven hours a day and then I train every day. Be it on the water or in the gym to get to a high level. It's not that I have nothing to do. It's that I surf for an hour every day and post something on Insta - and that's it.
You're just 18 years old. Other kids your age take it easy, you've already fully arrived in the jet-set life of a professional. Doesn't it all go too fast for you sometimes?
There are four wave events on the PWA Tour in 2022 and seven competitions on the GWA Wingfoil Tour, five of which are required for the annual ranking. Then there's the Defi Wind in the south of France, which I want to take part in. There's a longer break in winter. I don't regret anything that's happening at the moment, I'm doing what I love. And of course I have lots of friends with whom I can have a good time on and off the water.
Does your father accompany you on all your trips and at contests?
It depends. When the opportunity arises, we travel together, but now I'm also increasingly travelling without him. For example, with my mate Marino Gil, who is also on the PWA Wave Tour. But it often helps if my dad is with me, of course he has a lot of experience and has always supported me from minute one.
You mentioned the iQFOiL class earlier. Will we perhaps see you at the Olympics one day?
iQFOiL is a class that you have to put all your energy into if you want to stand a chance. Half measures don't work here because the level is extremely high. The discipline is fascinating, but I don't see myself there yet. For now, I want to step on the gas on the wave tour and in freestyle wingfoiling. But when I'm older, I might well get into slalom or iQFOiL. We'll see.
What about speed?
The event in Lüderitz is great fun. Pure adrenalin. Anyone who likes to surf fast should chase down a channel like the one in Lüderitz once in their life. I'll be there again in the autumn and hope to improve my personal record.
Where is it currently located?
At 43.5 knots over 500 metres.
When are you faster than your dad on the canal?
Phew, he's really fast, that will be difficult. I'd have to gain a lot of weight for that, so I'd have to go to the gym and eat the contents of a shopping trolley every day (laughs). Let's see if that works.
