of Olga Fotiadou
The Greek Red Bull athlete from Naxos, Lennart Neubauer, at the age of only 20, won the 1st place in the Fuerteventura PWA World Cup in Spain and in Sylt, Germany he became the world champion in freestyle windsurfing!
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Lennart Neubauer’s interview:
How did freestyle windsurfing come into your life? When was the first race you took part in?
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Freestyle windsurfing came into my life quite naturally, it wasn’t a day I decided. In fact, in Naxos, the conditions are ideal for freestyle windsurfing, and my coach at the time was also involved in this sport. So I followed in his footsteps and loved it from the start, watching it happen in front of me. It struck me as a windsurfing class, so the transition was very easy.
My first race was in Naxos, the same year I started the sport. It was very early and I participated more to meet other athletes. However, the first race I went to with a goal was the U13 Pan Europeans in Croatia in 2015. I won there, which was unexpected for me and for everyone. In that moment I realized how much I loved racing as a feeling. In addition, I met one of my best friends, which made this experience even more memorable.
How much did you prepare for the trick that won you the world championship?
Freestyle windsurfing is basically like acrobatics on the water, so I follow a specific routine with six tricks – three to the right and three to the left – that I have to perform in the race. During the year, I focus on perfecting these tricks in every possible condition: with little or no wind, with small or big waves, so that I am ready for whatever the race throws at me.
My preparation includes practice in these conditions but also with timing, because each race lasts 7-9 minutes. During my day I do up to 10 heats (mini races) to get a better sense of time.
How does your day start? What are your favorite workout spots?
When I am in Naxos, my day is quite simple, one could even say a bit monotonous. I wake up early, around 6-7 in the morning, and I try to stretch every day. After a good morning, if it’s windy, I start my workouts. I usually do 2 to 3 trainings during the day. The first starts around 8-9 in the morning. Then I come home for dinner and go back to the beach for the second workout, which is more extensive, around 14:00-16:00. After another lunch break, I do the last workout in the afternoon, around 18:00-19:00, and then I go home to rest and sleep.
During the season, I don’t have much time for anything other than training. In the preseason, however, I also add a lot of gym to my schedule.
My favorite spots for training, by far the No. 1 is Naxos. I’m not just saying that because I grew up there – although it’s my home spot – but I really think it’s the best place in Europe to learn freestyle windsurfing. Even at the level I’m at now, preparing for the World Championship, I think Naxos is ideal.
Apart from Naxos, there are also excellent spots in the Canary Islands, where I spend 3 months every summer. Also in Spain, Tarifa is another very good place to train. Finally, I especially like South Africa, where I go every January for 1-2 months. Almost every continent has great windsurfing spots, so there are plenty of options for great training worldwide.
How do the people of Naxos see the sport you do?
I think the people of Naxos know that I windsurf, but maybe they don’t have an exact idea of what it is, what it’s like and what exactly I do. This is normal, because I remember before I started the sport, I had no idea what windsurfing was. However, I hope that as time goes on, the sport will become more popular and more locals will start trying it out. If the proper infrastructure is in place so that people can try, I think then everyone will understand the sport much better.
Do you have a specific mindset? Something that all athletes really need?
The mindset that helps me a lot, especially after my injury, is to live in each moment and not let my mind wander off hours, days or months into the future. I always try to be in the present, and that really helps me a lot, especially in the races. The anxiety that an athlete can create in himself usually comes from thoughts like “what if I lose?” or “what if I win?” or even “what will others say?”. The stress doesn’t come from the sport itself, but from the demands you put on yourself. If I can stay in the present during the race, then the stress goes away, and that’s a huge advantage on the racing side.
You are the first Greek world champion in freestyle windsurfing. You stood out among many countries. How do you feel about that?
That was one of the first things that came to mind when I got the title. I am very proud of this and the fact that Greece has now won a world title in freestyle windsurfing. Before Kaklamanakis, there was no Greek who had reached this level, and Kaklamanakis is definitely one of the strongest windsurfers ever.
I started about six years ago in my first competitions at world level and I was the only Greek. Now, however, we are about 4 in all categories, and that is really very beautiful, because in the last 20 years there have not been so many Greeks who have participated at the world level. This makes me the happiest of all and I am very proud to be the first Greek to win a world title.
Were there any difficult times at the beginning of your career?
Yes, in the beginning when I started, I was often alone. I often trained alone, mostly in the winter, for many months. As a child, I certainly wanted to have my friends and my company, but those were sacrifices that had to be made from an early age. So I constantly chose to go and train alone, in the cold and rain, rather than hanging out with friends and groups. Yes, this was definitely hard at first, but the more I did it, the more I loved the sport. This difficulty, in the end, I no longer see it as a difficulty, because the sport gave me and gives me so much, that whatever difficulty there was, in the end it was worth every effort.
How has Red Bull helped you over the years?
Red Bull has helped me a lot in recent years, and especially in 2022 when I had a serious knee injury. I was out of sea for over 1 year, and Red Bull allowed me to go to the Red Bull Athlete Performance Center they have in Austria, where I stayed for over 8 months, on and off, and I did the rehabilitation there with best physical therapists and trainers in the world. I truly believe that without that help back then, I wouldn’t have reached the level I did, so I thank them and will forever thank them for this opportunity they gave me. Also, I’ve kept in touch with other athletes since then and I really think I gained a lot of experience as an athlete that year. So yes, they really help me in many ways.
What would you say is your biggest challenge as a professional athlete?
I believe that the biggest challenge I have as an athlete is to manage, on the day of the race, to be in the right mindset. This is everything for an athlete. We have two worlds every year, and I have to somehow manage to have the best mindset that day. To feel confident, to be well, to be physically healthy, and this is often really very difficult. But it is necessary to do well in a race. So all my training is with that goal in mind: to be focused and ready on that big day.
Have you ever been scared? Have you had an injury or faced a hardship that made you quit?
Yes, as I mentioned before, that knee injury I had in 2022 definitely put thoughts in my mind about whether I will be able to return to the same level and many other questions. A lot of tears that year, it was a very difficult time even though I had support from really everywhere. In the end, though, it was my body that had to recover again, and the damage was on my body, so yeah, it was a tough year. I never thought about giving up, but I didn’t know if I could come back because windsurfing is so hard on the body. If I wasn’t 100% well, I wouldn’t be able to be at the high level required to run in world races. So yes, that was a big difficulty I had to deal with.
What do you love most about what you do?
What made me like the sport as a small child was the freedom it gives me. That is, I can one day wake up and say “I want to take my windsurfer and fly to Paros, eat something, see some friends and come back again in the afternoon to Naxos”. This autonomy and freedom is what attracts me so much to this sport. And also, the competitive part of windsurfing. I’ve been very competitive as a person since I was little and the format of freestyle windsurfing is like we’re 1v1: I do my tricks, the opponent does, the scores come out and the best one goes to the next round. I live for those moments, so yes, those two, the competition and the freedom they give me, make me love this sport.
Your goals for the rest of 2024…
Although this year I have achieved almost every goal I set my mind to, I have won my first freestyle world title, I am healthy, my last goal for this year is to win the Pan-European Championships which will be held in Naxos, that is in the waters where i grew up I know the place very well and I have quite high demands for this race. So, yes, the last goal of the year would be to win the Pan European in Naxos.
What would you advise someone who wants to start freestyle windsurfing?
For someone who wants to try freestyle windsurfing, I would advise them to have a lot of patience. It is one of the most difficult sports that at least I have tried and I remember the patience it required at the beginning. No one became good at freestyle without falling countless times in the beginning. Also, it is important that he finds some company. I remember when I was little I found some friends and we windsurfed together and had 10 times more fun. Especially when we were all trying to learn a trick and then one of us learned it, it was a great motivation for the others to learn it too. So I think company is very important in windsurfing. Although it is not a team sport, it is always nice to have company to learn faster.
Source: www.zougla.gr
