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YOUTH POWER IN COSTA BRAVA
Duotone Riders Dominate at the GWA Youth World Championships
Austrian twins Tomas and Aleksander Acherer made a stunning debut on the world stage with a remarkable one-two finish during the dramatic season final of the GWA Surf-Freestlye discipline in Jeri/Brazil with Tom in 3rd!
Nia Suardiaz finished 1st in Surf-Freestyle and Freefly-Slalom likewise and also collected her 4th GWA world title for 2024: Nia is World Champion in Surf-Freestlye, FreeFly-Slalom, Youth and Big Air!
Mar de Arce finished 2nd in Surf-Freestyle and Freefly-Slalom making her 2nd and 3rd for the year in those two disciplines!
Congratulations everyone, also all credits to the rest of our team Charlie Loch in 5th, Rocco Sotomayor, Leo Suardiaz and Benjamin May in 13th an Zoe Schoenwetter in 7th.
Surf-Freestyle
U19 Girls Freestyle - Rising star Marie Schlittenbaumer takes the win!
After already turning heads at the GWA World Cup in Tarifa, 15-year-old Marie Schlittenbauer backed it up with another standout performance in Costa Brava. With powerful riding and remarkable consistency, she claimed the U19 Female Surf-Freestyle World Title, taking the win in a strong final against Eulalie Thébault (2nd) and Manon Dupe (3rd) from Guadeloupe. Following her podium finish at the Tarifa Wing Pro earlier this season, Marie has definitely established herself as one of the sport’s most exciting rising talents.
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»Winning the world title here in Costa Brava is unreal. After getting third in Tarifa, I was really motivated – pulling it off in tricky conditions makes it even more special.«
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U19 Girls Surf-Freestyle (all Duotone rider):
Marie Schlittenbauer (GER)
Eulalie Thébault (FRA)
Manon Dupé (FRA)
Freshly crowned Youth World Title for Sofia Ginzinger in Girls U14
Sofia Ginzinger secured the U14 Female Surf-Freestyle crown, followed by a strong 2nd place in the FreeFly-Slalom discipline – showing her versatility across formats. Lisa Zechner rounded out the U14 podium with a solid 3rd in Surf-Freestyle. Eulalie Thébault, not only finished 2nd in U19 Female Surf-Freestyle but also grabbed 2nd in U16 Female FreeFly-Slalom, proving her all-round skills.
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U14 Female Surf-Freestyle
Sofia Ginzinger (GER)
Vitoria Antolin (ESP)
Lisa Zechner (AUT)
Nothing beats twins' support (Male Freestyle U19)!
Aleks Acherer took home the U19 Male Surf-Freestyle title, overcoming defending champion Axel Gerard (FRA) in a tight final. It definitely wasn’t his favorite conditions – very light wind all the way – so the boys had to get creative, sharing the few bigger wings between the team. In the end, it was his twin brother Tom who handed over the last 5.0 to his brother Aleks in the last round while finishing 4th himself. Now that’s real teamwork!
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»This win means a lot to me. I’ve been pushing hard all season, and to finally take the world title feels incredible. Beating the defending champ gave it that extra edge. Big thanks to my brother Tom for his support in the final!«
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U19 Male Surf-Freestyle
Aleksander Acherer (AUT)
Axel Gerard (FRA)
Nathan Berger (ESP)
Tomas Acherer (AUT)
Franz Rappolder (GER)
U14 Male Surf-Freestyle
In the U14 divisions, 12-year-old Mr. Tricktionary Junior Sam Rossmeier won the U14 Male Surf-Freestyle title, with his buddie Sandro Ginzinger behind in 3rd.
Sam Rossmeier (ESP)
Balthazar Caputo (FRA)
Sandro Ginzinger (GER)
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»I'm super happy to win my first world title! The conditions weren’t easy, but I stayed focused and gave it everything in the final. It feels amazing.«
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U16 Male Surf-Freestyle
Hubert Christahl from North Germany earned 2nd place in U16 Male Surf-Freestyle, demonstrating technical progression and composure in tricky conditions while Kalle Dinant from Netherlands proofed his talent and finished 3rd before Gregor Zechner from Austria in 4th.
Ezio Bastianelli (FRA)
Hubert Christahl (GER)
Kalle Dinant (NED)
Gregor Zechner (AUT)
Freefly-Slalom
U14 Female - FreeFly-Slalom
France´s youngsters continued its strong streak in U14 Female FreeFly-Slalom, with Anna Helies securing the win and Sofia Ginzinger – fresh off her Surf-Freestyle podium – taking 2nd.
1 Anna Helies (FRA)
2 Sofia Ginzinger (GER)
3 Lise Debans Gascon (FRA)
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U14 Male FreeFly-Slalom
In the youngest Brazilians talents Benito Gorea and Malick Pagnotti, are placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the U14 Male division.
Carl Gillet (FRA)
Benito Gorea (BRA)
Malick Pagnotti (BRA)
U16 Female FreeFly-Slalom
France´s youngsters continued its strong streak in U16 Female FreeFly-Slalom, with Enoha Laurent securing the win and Eulalie Thébault – fresh off her Surf-Freestyle podium – taking 2nd.
Enoha Laurent (FRA)
Eulalie Thébault (FRA)
Olivia Sanchez (ESP)
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U19 Male FreeFly-Slalom
In the U19 Male division, Arthur Thébault (FRA) claimed 2nd, and Tom Pansard (FRA) finished just off the podium in 4th.
Sebastiano Zorzi (ITA)
Arthur Thébault (FRA)
Hugo Babilon (FRA)
Tom Pansard (FRA)
Well done to the whole team and a big shoutout to Michael “Michi” Rossmeier for holding this energetic pack together throughout the whole event week under challenging conditions.
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»What a week! I’m incredibly proud of all the youngsters – not just for the titles and podiums, but for the way they supported each other and handled the pressure.«