ST Athlete of the Year Max Maeder kicks off 2025 season with first race win

SINGAPORE – Olympic bronze medallist Maximilian Maeder has carried his winning ways into 2025, as he retained his Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta men’s Formula Kite title in Palma, Spain, on April 5.

It was a double-delight day for the 18-year-old, whose first race win of the season came over 12 hours after he was named The Straits Times Athlete of the Year 2024, presented by 100Plus.

The teenager may be a serial winner who has now extended his streak of consecutive victories to five since the Paris Olympics, but he told the Sunday Times that “winning never gets old”, and that he still feels nervous before a race.

He added: “Time, maturity and experience have made a difference as I gradually shift from a rookie into a more seasoned sailor, and it changes how I train and execute certain things.

“But racing is still tough, stimulating and challenging. It’s exhilarating to be back and I most definitely missed competing internationally.”

In his first event of the year, Maeder topped the qualifying series with a remarkable 13 wins in 19 races to progress to the Grand Final with one match point. He needed only one more for the gold.

In the Grand Final, he notched the second match point at the first time of asking, finishing ahead of Italy’s Riccardo Pianosi, Austria’s Olympic champion Valentin Bontus and Briton Connor Bainbridge, who were second, third and fourth respectively.

But he missed out on the overall title, which goes to the sailor with the lowest average total points from the qualifiers. British windsurfer Emma Wilson accumulated 53 total points after 19 women’s iQFoil qualifying races en route to the gold.

Maeder had 55 points after some “bad luck and sub-par racing” on the third day, catching plastic bags on two occasions to end up 22nd in his 10th race, before a crash led to a ninth in his 12th race.

“I’m only human and I’m happy with how I had a good recovery and reset for the next couple of days of racing,” he said.

Despite the minor blip, Maeder’s victory will be a boost as he aims to extend his winning form from 2024, in which he won nine titles, including the world, European and Asian championships.

He will now look forward to racing at the April 19-25 Semaine Olympique Francaise Hyeres event in France. But his sights are firmly set on retaining his title at the Formula Kite World Championships in Sardinia, Italy, from Sept 27 to Oct 5.

He added: “A peak at the world championships is what I have in mind, and I would like to have the highest performance level there this year.

“Training continues, and disciplined, professional and consistent performances are what I’m aiming for at every event I show up at.

“My first SEA Games in Thailand in December falls under that as well.”