Singapore kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder switches coach; wins silver at Youth European C'ships

Straits Times

12 hours ago

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SINGAPORE – With an eye on the future, Singaporean kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder has switched up his coaching set-up and is now training with the Swiss team alongside his younger brother Karl, 16.
The move sees him working under Swiss coach Matthieu Girolet, with their first unofficial training camp held about four weeks ago.
In his first event since the switch, the 18-year-old clinched the men's silver at the International Kiteboarding Association Youth European Championships in Gizzeria, Italy, on July 6.
Italy's Riccardo Pianosi claimed gold, while the bronze medal went to Switzerland's Gian Stragiotti.
'I'm in with a new team, which means I have a new coach, new training partners... It has felt like it's been really productive work,' said Maeder, whose father Valentin is Swiss and mother Hwee Keng is Singaporean.
'It's a new environment, there's some things to get acclimatised to. However, I feel like it's really good work and I feel like it has great potential for the future.'
At Hang Loose Beach, Maeder led the opening series with 17 nett points to secure direct qualification into the grand final, entering with a match-point advantage.
That meant he needed just one race win to seal the title, while Pianosi, who had finished second with 25 points, had to win twice.
But on July 6, an in-from Pianosi, who finished fourth at the 2024 Paris Olympics, forced a decider after edging out Maeder in the first race of the grand final.
He then carried that momentum into the second race, winning ahead of Stragiotti and Poland's Vojtech Koska. Maeder finished fourth, settling for silver.
Maeder was previously coached by Ivica Dolenc, who had worked with him since he was 14. Under Dolenc's guidance, he rose to become a double world champion and won Olympic bronze at the Paris Games, making him Singapore's youngest medallist at the quadrennial event.
Explaining the change in his coaching set-up, Maeder said: 'The (previous) set-up worked for a while and it was pretty good.
'The thing is, I felt there was more in the tank and I felt the team I was with had brought me so far but for the future, if I wanted to aim for even more Games, perhaps this team I had already was not the best choice.
'It was all right, but I saw the set-up that the Swiss had and how my brother was working and I thought that would be the long-term way to go.'
Elaborating, he said he was drawn to the Swiss team's approach to improving performance.
He added: 'I feel like there's a strong sense of performance in the way that you search for anything and everything that can bring you further in performance in a methodical and analytical way.
'I feel like having more minds put together on briefing, debriefing, analysing and the spirit that was in the team I felt was the right thing.
'That's the concrete difference – the spirit was different in the sense that the ambition and the aim, at least how it was manifested, and how analytical the whole set-up is.'
Next on Maeder's schedule is the Sept 27-Oct 5 Formula Kite World Championships in Sardinia, Italy, where the two-time defending champion will be looking to retain his title.
Feeling positive about his new training team, Maeder also acknowledged that it will take time for the changes to come through.
He said: 'I'm pretty well tuned in (to the change). It's just about letting the set-up have its effect over time.
'It takes some time for things that are in place to have their effect, especially at this level... so one month, two months before you properly see the effects that the changes have and of course, there's a lot of things to get acclimatised to.'