Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura: Nia Suardiaz and Chris MacDonald crowned world champions

On the final day of the surf freestyle on Fuerteventura on Tuesday, every heat was highly exciting. One rider after the other performed incredible tricks, one higher and more precise than the other. Injuries, innovations and hectic heats characterised the day, on which the eventual winners Nia Suardiaz and Christopher MacDonald were challenged every minute and were forced onto the defensive for the first time in this competition.

Huge backwards and forwards flips and fast combination tricks were on show, earning multiple 9-point scores. But Suardiaz and MacDonald kept their composure in the final and showed a masterclass that now represents a new standard for explosive, technical and perfectly executed freestyle tricks.

With their victory, Suardiaz and MacDonald moved to the top of the surf freestyle world championship rankings. With just one event to go, they are already crowned world champions for 2024.

Rapid development of tricks

The two new world champions laid the foundations for their titles last spring with their first victories, when the judges demanded quality over quantity and made the GWA riders perform every trick harder, higher and with more control. On Fuerteventura, they prevailed over an ever-increasing number of challengers and also delivered a near-perfect performance in the final jam session.

"I'm super proud of the guys," said MacDonald, who shared the lead in the final with Axel Gerard, who achieved the highest trick score of the event of 9.7 in the semi-final with a triple backflip combination. "At the beginning I thought I had an advantage, but everyone showed me that they could keep up with me or were even ahead of me."

Guenole injured in the semi-final

Gerard collected 8 and then 9 points in the final, but MacDonald performed the same trick, only higher, cleaner and with smoother landings, picking up half a point here and there. Xavier Corr was the only one who could keep up with these two. Malo Guenole, who had already qualified for the final but had to be stretchered off the beach with arm and back injuries after an unsuccessful landing in his semi-final, caused a scare.

In the end, Gerard had 28 points and MacDonald an astonishing 28.89 points. The deciding factor was a score of 9.83 points for a frontside 1080 from MacDonald, which he said was "the best in my life".

Suardiaz jumps to victory with a buttery smooth backflip

Nia Suardiaz also had worthy challengers in her final. Mar De Arce opened the competition with a "very first" frontflip, which was then the prelude to a series of innovative jumps in almost every round. She continued this series with an 8.93 frontflip in the final. Young Viola Lippitsch also piled on the pressure and landed a stretched backflip, which briefly put her ahead of the two Spaniards and Orane Ceris.

But Suardiaz was not intimidated. Although she fell on several attempts, she still performed her signature move, a buttery backflip, which earned her a 9.0 and secured the win by less than two points over De Arce. "I crashed on my first trick, which I usually land every time, so I was frustrated," Suardiaz said of the final. "Then I managed the tack backflip and I was really excited and stood on top."

The level in surf freestyle is rising steeply

Suardiaz said the women have improved since the last surf freestyle event in Tarifa. "All the girls have been training so hard and Mar is really good with her front flips," she said. "It's so cool to see all the girls ripping. The level has got so much higher, especially in the finals."

The level has become so much higher, especially in the finals." (Nia Suardiaz)

It's hard to predict how the freestyle tricks will continue after the riders on Fuerteventura proved that anything is possible. There are still a few months to go until the next stop on the GWA tour, during which everyone will continue to train. There will certainly be plenty of new moves to see on Instagram, and perhaps the judges will have to adjust their criteria and scales by then.

Results GWA Fuerteventura Surf Freestyle

Ladies

1. Nia Suardiaz (ESP)
2. Mar de Arce (ESP)
3. Viola Lippitsch (AUT)
4. Orane Ceris (FRA)

Gents

1. Christopher MacDonald (USA)
2. Axel Gerard (FRA)
3. Xavier Corr (ESP)
4. Malo Guénolé (FRA)