Austrian Wingfoiling Championship: Viola Lippitsch and Clemens Siraki win in Podersdorf

The organisers of the Austrian Championships expressed their satisfaction with the event in a press release. Austria's most successful lady on the Wing Foil World Tour, Viola Lippitsch, took victory in both the freestyle and race disciplines at the ÖM. "My goal is more podium places on the World Tour and participation in the Olympic Games," she said after her victory.

Zoe Schönwetter from Vienna was a newcomer in second place; according to the organisers, the ÖM was her first contest. "The Austrian youngsters in wingfoiling are also exceptionally strong. In the race discipline, Finn Jung won 3 out of 4 races and secured first place in the junior category." In freestyle, 13-year-old local hero Gregor Zechner won the junior category.

In the Open Men's category, Clemens Siraki, who came second last year, showed the most challenging moves in freestyle and the best performance in the race, taking the double victory in Podersdorf. "The level of wingfoiling has risen dramatically. It's getting harder and harder to be at the front - the young riders are really pushing themselves! But that's a good thing - it keeps the sport young and dynamic!" Thomas Schmidsberger came second in freestyle, while Lukas Höllwert took silver in racing. The Salzburg native switched from the Youth Americas Cup to wingfoiling: "I learnt a lot from the America's Cup, especially in terms of tactics, and I've been able to put it into practice here. For example, how to utilise wind shifts to run upwind efficiently. But it was challenging - the level of competition is very high!"