'Progress, not perfection': Max Maeder reflects after win streak ends

New Paper

20-05-2025

Maximilian Maeder's run of international kitefoiling triumphs, which started after the 2024 Paris Olympics, has stopped at five following his second-placed finish behind Italy's Riccardo Pianosi at the French Olympic Week event in Hyeres, France, on April 25.
Once again showing maturity beyond his youth, the Singaporean teenager told The Straits Times: "I went in first into the medal series, which was the goal, so that was well done.
"During the final, I just have to take my hat off to Riccardo, who had a wonderful execution... not making any mistakes and attacking aggressively.
"There are lessons to be learnt, which is good motivation to improve for the future.
"Also, the less you let the bad or good results affect you, the better you can have your consistency shine. So that's the goal, just to try and take whatever lessons we can from this event and continue training and improving. I'm aiming for progress, not perfection."
The 18-year-old had looked set to continue his winning streak as he topped the 60-man field during the qualifying series with six wins in 15 races to progress to the Grand Final with one match point, which meant he needed just one more match point in the four-man finale to claim overall victory.
But Pianosi, who was second in the qualifying series, stepped up to secure the two match points needed to take the gold by winning the first two races, in which Maeder placed third and fourth to finish second overall.
Swiss Gian Stragiotti and Italian Lorenzo Boschetti were third and fourth respectively.
Before the loss, Maeder had been in red-hot form as he won nine out of 10 events in 2024. After clinching an Olympic bronze, he won the KiteFoil World Series in Austria and Italy, the Asian Championships and the Youth European Championships, before another victory in Spain to kick off the 2025 season.
At that event, the Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta on April 5, Pianosi, 20, had finished second behind Maeder.
The Singaporean will look to get back to winning ways as he defends his Formula Kite European title in Turkey from May 11 to 19. In a previous interview, he told ST that his main goal for 2025 was to retain his title at the Formula Kite World Championships in Sardinia, Italy, from Sept 27 to Oct 5.
But first, he will have to manage a sore right shoulder after injuring it during a crash in training on April 13. A physiotherapist from the High Performance Sport Institute was dispatched to attend to Maeder, who was fit enough to race.
He said: "I crashed at surprisingly low speed, but something happened with my shoulder, and it felt like the joint wasn't in the right position, before it clicked into place and felt normal again 25 seconds later.
"My shoulder moves normally and it's fine, but it's just that if I strain it at the end of its range of motion, I feel something. I can compete like normal but I haven't completely forgotten about it."
Meanwhile, among the other Singaporeans at the event, Ryan Lo placed 31st out of 112 competitors in the ILCA 7, Jania Ang ranked 59th out of 72 sailors in the ILCA 6, and Elkan Oh was 63rd out of 75 athletes in the men's iQFoil.