Speed surfingHeidi Ulrich with new record over 500 metres

Tobias Frauen

 · 18.08.2023

Speed surfing: Heidi Ulrich with new record over 500 metresPhoto: Heidi Ulrich
In La Palme, France, Heidi Ulrich improved her own world record over 500 metres
Switzerland's Heidi Ulrich has set a new GPS record for the 500 metres in open water. At 42.23 knots, she equalled her own record from the spring.

Heidi Ulrich has broken her own speed record over 500 metres on the open sea. According to her own figures, the Swiss sailor achieved an average speed of 42.23 knots (78.20 km/h) last week in La Palme in the south of France. Her top speed was 45.92 knots (approx. 85 km/h).

surf/speed-ulrich_1cc02398fe76510d84a4c8ac8269683aPhoto: Heidi Ulrich

Heidi Ulrich thus improved her own record in open water, which she had also set in La Palme at the World Championships in the spring. At that time, her 40.96 knots were just above the more than ten-year-old record set by Zara Davis (40.5 knots). Now she was able to make a big leap upwards during a training session.

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Heidi Ulrich has also held the official world speed record since November 2022: 47.06 knots (87.2 km/h) over 500 metres in the Lüderitz Channel. She also currently has the best speed over the nautical mile (1.852 km) on her side (38.44 knots, also at the 2022 World Championships in La Palme).

In Patrik Diethelm and Karin Jaggi, Heidi Ulrich has two mentors with a wealth of experience. "After I started surfing in 2012, Patrik came back from Lüderitz/Namibia at the end of the year full of euphoria. His eyes sparkled when he told me about this speed channel. [...] I couldn't stop marvelling and knew I wanted to be able to do that too," reported Heidi in a surf interview about her career.


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Tobi is our digital man, he looks after the surf website and social media channels and gets on everyone's nerves every morning by asking for more pictures and videos. His surfing CV includes all the famous choppy water spots: As a teenager, he went from his home in Münsterland to the Ijsselmeer or the Brouwersdam, and during his civilian service on Sylt, after countless washes on the west side, the Königshafen became his preferred spot. After studying in Kiel and Heidkate, he was supposed to go to Hamburg “only for a short time”, but this short time has lasted for over ten years and has made him a “weekend warrior”. He goes on tour with his family and camper van as often as possible, often to the Baltic Sea, SPO or Denmark, but also likes to go to Finland, Sweden or Sardinia.

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