Eye-Opening Experiences

The Straits Times is celebrating outstanding Singaporeans selected for the 2024 ST Athlete of the Year award, backed by 100Plus. To get to know our athletes better, we asked them about their love for their sport, interesting experiences and who has influenced them. This is what kitefoiler Maximilian Maeder told Kimberly Kwek.

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Q How has your love for kitefoiling evolved?

A It began as a sporting thrill or a feeling of going out and being able to fly across the water and having fun that way, because it's the thrill of being able to stand on the foil. But over time that changed – the more time you spend on the foil, the more you get used to the feeling.

Not to say that it's not fun, but why the sport itself is so great or why I love it changed to that I could compete, that I could genuinely improve and train and fight in something that I was competent in and compare myself to others.

That very quickly changed to something that remained for a much longer time — how you can connect through sport, how you can bring value through sport as more people supported me, as more people gave up their resources and time to help me.