You just made your first freestyle World Cup final. What was going through your head when you realised you'd made it through?
I went into this first comp of the season with not a lot of expectations. I, of course, wanted to take it as far as I could, but I didn't put any pressure on myself - especially seeing as I've had a couple months break from kiting since the wind season finished back home in Australia.
After a pretty solid semi final heat, I honestly didn't know if I made it through to the final as the other riders were crashing some tricks, but also landing some really powerful ones. I didn't actually realize I had passed through to the finals until a couple people on the beach ran over to me in excitement! I was in disbelief for a minute, but after fully comprehending that I actually passed through to the final I was pretty emotional! I was filled with feelings of joy, relief, excitement and really was just trying to process that I made my first ever world tour event final!
How did you prepare for the comp? Was there anything you did differently going into Mexico?
In terms of preparing for this event, I honestly didn't do too much differently than what I had done for previous comps. Just trying to get out on the water at different spots and in different conditions as much as possible. I think in a way, I performed well in my heats leading up to the final because I have experience kiting in choppy, difficult conditions. I can thank one of my home spots for that, haha!
Talk us through your setup. What were you riding and why?
My setup for this comp was my go to freestyle setup. Traverse EJ Pro 144cm freestyle twintip, combined with the 14m Torch. The wind was pretty light, about 17-18 knots, so I opted for a bigger kite to help give me enough power.
The conditions looked tricky out there. Did that change your strategy going into your heats?
In the first heats, I kept my level of riding lower with single handle-passes that I know I can land in any conditions. I was just trying to get used to the spot while also doing enough to pass through the rounds. For the rest of the heats, I had to step it up two more technical tricks, which were less consistent in rough conditions, but had to be executed in order for me to stay above the other riders.
Was there a moment in the comp where you thought it was over or a heat that surprised you?
For sure. After not landing a great combo and then finishing my semi-final heat crashing a dumdum5, I thought surely there was no way I would be through to the finals. But when I realized Davi and Anthar didn't have 4 tricks scored in their heat, and looking at the points, as well as some friends telling me on the beach, that's when I realized I was in the final!!
What does a result like this mean for the rest of your season?
Originally I had planned to skip Germany and come back to Australia, but now that I have unexpectedly found my way into 4th position for the first event of the season, I think it is a good opportunity to complete the tour!
Any riders out there who pushed you to step up your game?
Honestly, all the riders on the world tour have been pushing me and each other over the years. Freestyle kiteboarding is a constant evolution of technicality, style, difficulty and expression. Every year in Brazil, we train alongside each other and push eachother to go bigger and do better. So, I can't particularly name one individual; it's more the entire family of competition riders that push me to progress my riding!
