IQFoiling in brief
IQFoiling is a windsurfing discipline in which the surfboard is equipped with a foil, a type of fin under the board that allows it to float about half a meter above the water. This minimizes water resistance and allows you to surf even at low wind speeds. The sport is becoming increasingly popular.
Important features include the foil design, shorter and wider – thus more stable – boards, modified sails, a different position on the board, and higher speeds, even in low wind so. IQ Foiling will compete for the first time as an Olympic sport at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. It will replace the RS:X windsurfing class, the sport in which Dorian van Rijsselberghe made it big.
No love at first sight
I started IQFoiling in Bonaire, where we lived for three years. My father used to be an avid windsurfer. When we knew we were going to move to Bonaire as a family, we decided to buy a simple windsurfing kit. With that, I started practicing.
If I am completely honest, was not immediately in love with the sport. But after much practice and many lessons I started to like it more and more. When I received a foil from the brothers Taty and Tonky Frans, two very well-known figures in the sport, the ball really started rolling. With my own foil I could practice even more often.
Price tag
After three years on Bonaire, we went back to Holland. I wanted to continue foiling, but that comes with quite a price tag and you also have to be admitted. My coach from Bonaire put me in touch with the coach here and I was admitted. We bought a set and now I am also training here.
Challenges
There are also quite a few challenges. For example, of course it’s extremely cold right now, even though we have good suits. On Wednesdays we train indoors at the gym, because in winter it is dark by 4:30. Earlier training is not possible because of school obligations.
That’s why we only train on the water on Saturdays now. Those are long days. We usually start around ten in the morning and don’t finish until around five in the afternoon. The combination of school and top sport is also tough. I am in VWO, but I am doing the bilingual program, where half of my subjects are in English. That took some finding, especially the first few months, but now I’ve found a good rhythm that works.
Making choices can sometimes be tricky. Do you go to workout or go to your grandmother’s birthday. At the end of November it was my mother’s birthday and then I had to train. That can be difficult at times, but it’s worth it to me.
Sustainability in IQFoiling
Sustainability is an important aspect of IQFoiling. We use the wind as propulsion, which is of course very environmentally friendly. Moreover, the suppliers of both boards and sails are committed to sustainability. For example, Starboard plants three mangrove trees for every board sold. This offsets the CO2 emissions of each board more than ten times.
Sponsorship
I’m really very happy with the sponsorship by OptimaData. In any case, because they are really nice people. And that financial support is very important to me. Watersports, especially windsurfing and IQFoiling, are pretty pricey. That has to do not only with the materials, but also with the many trips abroad that are involved.
My training camp in 2024 is in Cadiz, the World Cup is in France and the European Championship in Mallorca. So I also have to deal with expenses for transportation (of myself and the equipment), accommodation and race registration. It’s a wonderful amount that OptimaData is sponsoring me with and I can do really nice things with that.
If you get that, that’s of course super. It means I can keep making new steps and if my stuff breaks down, I can replace it much easier now. It’s just really nice to have people who are there for you.
Bronze medal
It is quite difficult for me to find serious competition, especially in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands I am by far the youngest. I now train in the men’s category, which I am very happy with, but they are all 14 or 15. Among the girls I train with, the youngest is 15 and the rest are 21 or older.
My focus now is mainly on the European and World Championships, because there are more sailors my age there and I can learn a lot from them. This year, for example, I won the IJspegel Trophy in Ter Aar, a real classic. The World Cup features names of world-class athletes such as Sara Wennekes, who has a chance of winning the Olympics in Paris. That was really cool! I also finished third at the Dutch Championships. A bronze medal is of course great, especially because I was competing against a lot of older foilers.
Olympic games 2032 or 2036
For the coming year, my focus is on the European Championships (EC) and the World Championships (WC) IQFoiling. My goal is to finish in the top 10 in both tournaments. Last year I finished 11th in the under-15 age category, but in the under-17 category I finished 43rd. I want to be in the top 10 in that category as well, and I believe this is achievable.
And ultimately, of course, my big dream is to compete in the 2032 or 2036 Olympics. I realize this will be a huge challenge, but it is my ultimate goal to stand there one day, preferably with a gold medal in my hands.
Sponsorship
The OptimaData team is naturally very proud of Anna. “Our sponsorship brings the top equipment she needs to achieve her ambitions a lot closer. In our work we are used to supporting clients to achieve their goals, how nice to also give such a young talent a boost. In addition, water sports are a shared passion of our management. IQFoiling also fits seamlessly with OptimaData’s core values: speed, innovation, performance, refining technology and effortlessly navigating the challenges of wind and waves.” Would you also like to sponsor Anna? You can!