Our Next Generation team competed at the GWA Youth Wingfoil World Championships this weekend in La Palma, Spain and absolutely killed it! 35 young riders from nine countries battled across three age groups in both the Surf-Freestyle and FreeFly-Slalom events. All six of our athletes brought home World titles or medals.
In the U19 Men, Christopher Macdonald was crowned back-to-back World Champion in Surf-Freestyle. The 17-year-old dominated the final and was in a league of his own, especially after scoring a 10 on a Frontside 1080.
Chris was joined on the podium by Noé Cuyala in third place, who rocked it in his first year in this age category. Noé also fired through the FreeFly-Slalom competition and placed third.
On the women’s side and for her first World Championships, Lily Buden placed second in both Surf-Freestyle, less than a point behind Nia Suardiaz who is also the GWA Wingfoil World Tour leader. Lily finished second in FreeFly-Slalom as well.
In U16, Luca Vuillermet rocked in the Surf-Freestyle competition. His innovative Toeside Frontside 9, a world first, allowed him to clinch the third place in his first season in this age group.
Finally, Ezio Bastianelli and Leon Schiel took turns at the top in the U14 category to win their first World Championship titles. Ezio won the Surf-Freestyle competition and Leon finished second; both absolutely sent it in the final, upping each other trick after trick. In the FreeFly-Slalom, Leon came out on top, while Ezio finished in second place like last year.
Surf-Freestyle Results
Freefly-Slalom Results
Chris, Noé and Luca also compete on the GWA Wingfoil World tour and will participate in the upcoming legs in Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura. Chris currently sits in second place in the senior rankings in Surf-Freestyle.
Congratulations to our Next Generation team for these fantastic results and a huge thank you to coach Nico Delmas!