As a father of water-loving kids, it always makes me happy when we get portraits of young talents. The world is big and we see so many kids who have great potential for the future. In Germany a new generation of water sports athletes is growing up. Wing foiling seems to have given this trend a bit of a boost. Finn Flügel is one of these talents this is his story:
As a true Upper Franconian I was born on July 16, 2009 in Hof. From the beginning, my equally water sports crazy parents took me everywhere with them, so that I already demanded a kite at the age of four. “Fobbed off” with a trainer kite, I flew countless hours on various beaches from then on. In between, I took a seat on my parents’ boards as a stowaway, so that the desire to kite myself became ever greater.
Shortly before my seventh birthday it was finally time — I WAS ALLOWED TO LEARN KITING! Equipped with a board specially produced for me from my dad´s factory and a FLYSURFER VIRON, I got my first coaching lessons on the water. Of course, I learned at ELEMENT WATERSPORTS, my parents’ water sports station in El Gouna.
What I wish for: „II want to develop further in my sports, have a lot of fun and win some more titles. I want to become world champion with my own brand and support other kids.”
Finn Flügel
From then on, I could no longer be stopped: I enjoyed every free minute on the water and quickly learned new tricks. Whether in Egypt the shallow water spots, or the North German wave spots — KITING IS AND REMAINS MY PASSION!
When I turned ten, I knew I wanted to focus even more on kiting. So I asked my parents to allow me to spend half of the school year in Egypt. Said and done: With the support of the Waldorf School Hof, I became a schoolchild of the Swiss School of the Canton of Uri in El Gouna. After Corona put a huge spanner in the work, I have remained a Swiss student ever since and will go to school in El Gouna until further notice.
After quickly developing my skills, I felt ready for my first event, the Rider of the Year Contest (ROTY) on Fehmarn last year. Right from the start I finished fourth in the junior freestyle and first in the men’s foil freestyle.
A lot has happened since then: I discovered wing foiling for myself and was able to win two German championship titles.
- U14 GKA YOUTH WORLD CUP CHAMPION KITE FREESTYLE
- U18 German champion KITE FREESTYLE
- U14 German champion WING FOIL RACE
- U14 German vice champion WING FOIL FREESTYLE
- U18 French vice champion WING FOIL FREESTYLE
- U19 RIDER OF THE YEAR 2nd place
Aufruf an alle Eltern: Habt ihr auch ein junges Talent zuhause? Schickt nun Eure Geschichte.