Interview with Kristin Boese, Kitesurfing world champion
We talked to Kristin Boese from Germany, who won kiteboarding world championships in Freestyle, Wave riding and course racing. Kristin is sponsored by Best Kiteboarding, Rial, Air Berlin and Maui Magic. Kristin has published 2 books and a DVD about kitesurfing which can be ordered on Kristin’s website. The wavekiting book and the kitesurfing DVD will also be available in English later this year. If you wanna know Kristin’s story then read on:
Olli: I think you started kitesurfing in 2002 at age 24. In 2005 you won the PKRA kitesurf world cup, a very impressive achievement in such a short period of time! What was the key to your sucess?
Kristin: Yeah, thats right… I was kind of surprised myself that things went so quickly. I was kind of lucky too as when I started competing the level in the competition was not so high yet and that gave me the chance to somehow develop together with the sport. I really enjoyed getting into the sport when it was still so young and I would say it was a big part of my key to success.
Olli: When did you decide that you wanted to become world champion in kiteboarding?
Kristin: I straight away fell in love with the sport when I first had a kite in my hands and gave up everything else for the chance to kite whenever possible. Then competing gave me the chance to kite together with so many great girls and also pushed me to learn more and more moves, so at first I did not even realize where this all is going. Only when I became 2nd in the world in 2004 the idea to become world champion really developed in my mind and I just went to try…
Olli: Did you always believe that you would achieve this goal (given the fact that you were already 24 years old when you started and there were already some girls way ahead of you)?
Kristin: From the point where I had decided to try I thought my chances were quite good. The sport took quite a drastic change back then and in competitions it now did not count anymore to show the most and best board offs but new school tricks were scored high. Back then I was actually one of the younger girls on tour and knew I had a lot of energy and motivation but I was never sure that I would really get the title until the minute that I actually had enough ranking points to secure it.
Olli: Did your kiteboarding career change your personaility/chacacter? If so, in which way?
Kristin: Oh, I am sure all the traveling that came with the kite-boarding changed me quite a bit. It is kind of hard to say in which way exactly as I also got older and would have changed anyways but I am probably more liberal-minded and easy going than I would
have been living in working in an office.
Olli: The younger girls are getting stronger and stronger in Freestyle. How do you deal with that? What keeps you motivated?
Kristin: I basically just compete in other disciplines now. I really fell in love with wave riding and course racing about 2 years ago and that probably came at a good time for me and really motivated me . My muscles were always sore from free-styling and I was seriously hurt, not recovering nearly as quickly as the younger Freestyle riders and not learning as fast. But now I really enjoy competing in other disciplines and think it is great that our sport develops into different directions. Now nobody is too old to compete anymore!
Olli: What are your plans for the next years? Will you continue to compete? Could you live without kiteboarding?
Kristin: For this year I found a great compromise with my sponsors and am going to compete in 4 events only. That will leave me enough time to do girls camps and other promotional events and also gives me the chance to work with organizations and media closely. I am very happy with this possibility and could not imagine to not do any of that, at least for now! :)
Olli: What do you recommend to girls that are interested in kiteboarding?
Kristin: Well, look for a kite-school close to you (or on your next holiday) and book lessons straight away. You should really try it as kitesurfing is a great sport for girls and much easier to learn than you might think! If you are able to find a female instructor or even a girls clinic somewhere you will probably really enjoy being taught by a girl because they usually can understand your needs better.
Olli: Would you recommend young girls to try to pursue a professional career in kiteboarding? If yes, what should they consider? What does it take to make it to the top in kiteboarding?
Kristin: I would always support young girls getting into the sport, on a professional basis or just for fun! However, becoming a professional kite-surfer is not easy and a few things other than just the love to the sport are necessary in order to go into this direction:
supportive parents and a good financial background are probably as important these days as a home close to the beach with good conditions for practicing, the motivation to learn as much as possible in a short time and the desire to do this for a long time. In general I would just recommend that you follow your heart and live your dream.
Olli: Has being a pro kiteboarder always been fun? Or is there also a lot of work and pain involved? Do you believe you missed out on certain things by pursuing a pro kiteboarding career?
Kristin: There has definitely always been fun and especially my love to the sport involved but it surely has not always been easy. Every goal or every dream has to be worked for and only then you can really appreciate when you reach it. I am very glad it was the way it was for me as now I can look back and know that I manage to make it to where I am with my own hands and because of that I don’t think I missed out on anything but have gained way more than I could ever in any other way.
Olli: What do you want to do in 10 years from now?
Kristin: Uhhh, it is really difficult to plan the future… things just keep coming up on the way. I could probably picture myself with a beautiflul family in a house somewhere in nature and running some kind of business, but who knows… we will just wait and see!
Olli: Thanks for the interview! I wish you all the best for the future.