Singapore kitefoiler Max Maeder aiming for progress, not perfection as he places second in France
Singapore kitefoiler Max Maeder aiming for progress, not perfection as he places second in France
SINGAPORE – Maximilian Maeder's run of international kitefoiling triumphs, which started after the Paris 2024 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 11-19. In a previous interview, he told The Straits Times that his main goal of the year 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 despatched 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 39th out of 112 competitors in the Ilca7, Jania Ang ranked 59th out of 72 sailors in the Ilca6, and Elkan Oh was 63rd out of 75 athletes in the men's iQFoil.
David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
Five facts about Summer McIntosh, the teen swimmer who is smashing world records
Summer McIntosh is making waves in the swimming world after breaking three world records in five days. PHOTO: REUTERS Five facts about Summer McIntosh, the teen swimmer who is smashing world records SINGAPORE - Three world records in five days – Summer McIntosh is making waves with her performances at the Canadian Swimming Trials for the 2025 World Aquatic Championships. On June 11, the eighteen-year-old clocked 4 min 23.65sec in the 400m individual medley to better her own world record of 4:24.38 set at the 2024 Canadian Olympic Trials. The teenager achieved not one, but three record-breaking feats in the June 7-12 meet. On the first day of racing, she regained the 400m freestyle world record with a time of 3:54.18, before breaking the decade-long 200m individual medley mark in 2:05.70. The Straits Times looks at five fun facts to know about the teen swimming sensation. 1. She was the youngest member of the Canadian team in the 2020 Olympics At 14, McIntosh won the 200m freestyle during the 2021 Canadian Olympic swimming trials, held in her hometown of Toronto. She qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and was the youngest member of Canada's Olympic team. Though she did not medal in any of the events she competed in, her fourth-place finish with a time of 4:02.42 in the 400m freestyle broke the Canadian national record. 2. At 18, she has three Olympic golds and four world titles Since her Olympic debut, McIntosh has gone from strength to strength, earning two gold medals in the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in the 200m butterfly and 400m individual medley. She added another two golds in the same events in the 2023 edition. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, she claimed three gold medals in the 200m and 400m individual medley, and the 200m butterfly. She also won a silver in the 400m freestyle. The teenager now has 14 golds, six silvers, and six bronzes across the Olympics, World Championships, World Swimming Championships (25m), Swimming World Cup, and Commonwealth Games. 3. She was 16 when she broke her first world record In the 2023 national swimming trials, McIntosh won the 400m freestyle with a timing of 3min 56.08sec to claim her first world record aged 16. A few days later, she broke the 400m medley world mark after clocking 4:25.87. McIntosh became the first swimmer in history to hold both the 400m freestyle and 400m medley world records at the same time. 4. She comes from an athletic family Her mother Jill Horstead was a former national swimmer and she was part of the Canadian Olympic team in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She swam in the 200m butterfly, placing ninth overall. McIntosh's older sister, Brooke, is a professional figure skater. At the 2025 Spanish national championships, the 20-year-old and then-partner Marco Zandron were crowned champions in pair skating. 5. Will she be as good as Michael Phelps? At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, United States swimming legend Michael Phelps won eight gold medals and smashed four individual world records – a feat that remains unmatched by any swimmer. Only 18, McIntosh could follow in the swimming legend's footsteps in the future after putting together one of the best single-meet performances in history. At the Canadian swimming trials, she is the first swimmer since Phelps to break world records in three individual events over a long course meet. Phelps is the only swimmer to win five gold medals in a single Olympics (2008) or world championships (2007). McIntosh will get the chance to match that as she plans to compete in five individual events in the upcoming world championships, which will be held in Singapore from July 11 to August 3. After the world championships, McIntosh plans to move to Austin, Texas, to work with Bob Bowman, who coached Phelps for his entire career. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
13 hours ago
- Straits Times
Le Mans and Formula One in same year? Too much now, says Nico Hulkenberg
Le Mans and Formula One in same year? Too much now, says Nico Hulkenberg MONTREAL - Nico Hulkenberg raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a decade ago when the Formula One calendar allowed it, and came away a winner with Porsche. The German could not do that now, with the 93rd edition of the French endurance race clashing with this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix where Hulkenberg, now 37, will be on the starting grid with Sauber. There will be another overlap next year but even if there was not Hulkenberg says trying to do both would be too much today. "I think everyone was a lot less busy (in 2015), you know, than now," the German, who finished fifth in Spain two weekends ago, told Reuters in a recent interview. "Twenty-four races, all the stuff in between, it's a full-time job. I can only talk for myself but, personally, I wouldn't want the extra gig at the moment. I'm fully focused on F1 and for me, I'm happy that way." Hulkenberg, now one of only two fathers on the F1 grid along with Max Verstappen, was with Force India in 2015 when he got the chance to race Le Mans. The sportscar race chooses its winners, they say, and that weekend he hit the jackpot along with fellow rookie Earl Bamber of New Zealand and Britain's Nick Tandy. Hulkenberg had raced in Canada the weekend before with F1 and went on to Austria immediately after. "It definitely took some time to first understand the car and get a grip on it and properly get the lap time out of it," he recalled. "I was still improving and understanding, I was clicking only really in the night of the race. "To jump back into Formula One I think was not a problem, because there was so much positivity after a race like this. I remember jumping into Austria and I was owning it and I was boss. It was no problem going back." The German's Formula One career has taken him from Williams in 2010 to racing for Aston Martin's predecessors Force India and Racing Point as well as Sauber, Renault and Haas with some gaps in between. "Why am I still here?," asked Formula One's only current German driver. "Because they still want me." Hulkenberg holds the record for most Formula One races without ever standing on the podium but that is also testament to his enduring worth as a driver with engineering and setup skills as well as speed. His 236 starts are way more than the next man on the list without a podium, retired fellow-German Adrian Sutil on 128. On the plus side, Hulkenberg has two fastest laps and a pole position and next year will be in at the start with the Audi factory team when Sauber is renamed. "I still love what I do. You know, Formula One and racing is my passion. It's what I do best, it's what I love. What else should I do?," he said. "I think it's the competition, you know, the thrill of qualifying, the buzz of a race, kicking ass but even the bad days -- just the racing, everything. I love that." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
16 hours ago
- Straits Times
Le Mans and F1 in same year? Too much now, says Hulkenberg
Le Mans and F1 in same year? Too much now, says Hulkenberg MONTREAL - Nico Hulkenberg raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a decade ago when the Formula One calendar allowed it, and came away a winner with Porsche. The German could not do that now, with the 93rd edition of the French endurance race clashing with this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix where Hulkenberg, now 37, will be on the starting grid with Sauber. There will be another overlap next year but even if there was not Hulkenberg says trying to do both would be too much today. "I think everyone was a lot less busy (in 2015), you know, than now," the German, who finished fifth in Spain two weekends ago, told Reuters in a recent interview. "Twenty-four races, all the stuff in between, it's a full-time job. I can only talk for myself but, personally, I wouldn't want the extra gig at the moment. I'm fully focused on F1 and for me, I'm happy that way." Hulkenberg, now one of only two fathers on the F1 grid along with Max Verstappen, was with Force India in 2015 when he got the chance to race Le Mans. The sportscar race chooses its winners, they say, and that weekend he hit the jackpot along with fellow rookie Earl Bamber of New Zealand and Britain's Nick Tandy. Hulkenberg had raced in Canada the weekend before with F1 and went on to Austria immediately after. "It definitely took some time to first understand the car and get a grip on it and properly get the lap time out of it," he recalled. "I was still improving and understanding, I was clicking only really in the night of the race. "To jump back into Formula One I think was not a problem, because there was so much positivity after a race like this. I remember jumping into Austria and I was owning it and I was boss. It was no problem going back." The German's Formula One career has taken him from Williams in 2010 to racing for Aston Martin's predecessors Force India and Racing Point as well as Sauber, Renault and Haas with some gaps in between. "Why am I still here?," asked Formula One's only current German driver. "Because they still want me." Hulkenberg holds the record for most Formula One races without ever standing on the podium but that is also testament to his enduring worth as a driver with engineering and setup skills as well as speed. His 236 starts are way more than the next man on the list without a podium, retired fellow-German Adrian Sutil on 128. On the plus side, Hulkenberg has two fastest laps and a pole position and next year will be in at the start with the Audi factory team when Sauber is renamed. "I still love what I do. You know, Formula One and racing is my passion. It's what I do best, it's what I love. What else should I do?," he said. "I think it's the competition, you know, the thrill of qualifying, the buzz of a race, kicking ass but even the bad days -- just the racing, everything. I love that." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
