2024 ST Athlete of the Year nominee Maximilian Maeder

Q: How has your love for kitefoiling evolved?

It begun 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 and more time you spend on the foil, 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.

That shifted my perspective on not doing it for myself any more and actually doing it for others and that’s a big paradigm shift... I get to let others experience and others can live vicariously or enjoy my journey and bring whatever emotion to them, a feeling to them, a positive impact on them.

Q: Describe 2024 in one word.

I would say rich or dense, words like that. A lot changed for me from 2023 to 2024, from my view of athleticism to the obligations to sponsors, or the feeling of responsibility to continue to perform well, all the way to the experiences that I had and how 2024 felt like two years.

It was genuinely a lot. That’s why I would use these words because there was just so much that happened for me.

Q: What was your biggest takeaway