SINGAPORE – Just over a week ago, Maximilian Maeder narrowly missed out on the Formula Kite World Championships title after a mistake caused him to crash in the second race of the finals.

The 16-year-old Singaporean was only one race away from being crowned world champion, after winning the first race to go level on points with Slovenian Toni Vodisek.

While they started the second race neck-and-neck, Maximilian crashed downwind and Vodisek seized his chance to claim his maiden world title.

But Maximilian has taken the loss in his stride, which he sees as a sign of the progress he has made this season.

He explained: “I would’ve handled it very differently if it had happened to me last year. Now I understand we are racers operating on the limit of a sport and, even if you’re not anxious, nervous or not feeling anything, at one point, mistakes are going to happen.

“So the way to deal with that is to train for consistency and to give it your best but, in the end, it’s difficult to completely and certainly remove all mistakes all the time, which is just something that happens.”

His silver in Cagliari, Italy, is the latest achievement in what has been a stellar season for the teenager, who also clinched gold in five other events, including the Youth (Under-21) World Championships and Open European Championships.

But progress for Maximilian is more than just about winning medals and he is pleased with how he has developed in other aspects over the year.

He said: “It’s been a wonderful season to see that I can still keep up with everyone else and that my training, together with my coach and my partner, has continued to work out and that we can continue to do what we’ve done and that it’s successful.

“Nobody can complain about this season – it’s really been wonderful for me personally and, even if I had somehow less results in terms of not winning any events or if I didn’t do anything great, it’s still a season to see improvement from last year.

“I believe I’ve become more confident in myself and I’ve developed as a racer in terms of maturity, in terms of how stable I am, how I handle when it’s not going so well or when I’m roughed up.”

Maximilian has earned his spot at next August’s Sailing World Championships – a qualification event for the 2024 Olympics – and he believes that he is on track to qualify for the Paris Games, where kitefoiling will make its debut.

The Singaporean, who is based in Switzerland, will not be making significant changes to his current programme, which he noted has worked for him so far.

He said: “Of course, there can be optimisation and tweaks but there shouldn’t be a fundamental change to what we are doing and, if I just continue trying to work hard and work together with my team and see if we can continue to do well, it’s a high likelihood that I can qualify for the Olympics with my training partner.”

Earlier this year, Maximilian was named among 17 new athletes in the 2022 cohort of Sport Singapore’s Sport Excellence Scholarship (spexScholarship) programme, which offers support to athletes who are deemed to have the potential to excel on the Asian and world stages. Besides monthly stipends, scholars also receive support in areas such as education, sports science and nutrition.

The first-time spexScholarship recipient said the assistance from the scheme and his sponsors, such as local beverage company Yeo Hiap Seng (Yeo’s), has helped him significantly in his sporting pursuits, specifically in covering the logistical costs of training and competing.

A typical season sees Maximilian travelling for training stints and about eight competitions in a year, so the support helps to cover accommodation and flight costs, among others.

He said: “It creates a safe space and environment to be able to go in, train and continue to work without having to worry about things outside.

“There are a lot of things to work on and a lot of variables that change and you see things over time, that’s why it’s important to have multiple competitions. It’s a constant change, there’s never one thing you’re working on for a long period of time.”

Maximilian Maeder’s podium finishes in 2022

• Open Asia-Pacific Championships (March 11-17): First
• French Olympic Week (April 23-30): First
• Youth (Under-21) World Championships (May 16-22): First
• World Sailing Youth (U-19) World Championships (July 8-15): First
• Open European Championships (Sept 25-Oct 2): First
• Formula Kite World Championships (Oct 8-16): Second