Germany made history in Ebikon, Switzerland, becoming the first-ever European Rapid Surf Team Champions after four days of competition at OANA, where 78 athletes from eight nations competed for the inaugural European Rapid Surf Championship titles.
The German team topped the final team ranking with 5,675 points, ahead of Switzerland with 5,385 and Austria with 3,920. Germany also finished the championship with eight medals, including two European titles, underlining the strength and depth of the team across the six categories.
The inaugural championship, organised by Swiss Surfing on behalf of the European Surfing Federation (ESF), featured competition in Open Men, Open Women, Junior Boys U18, Junior Girls U18, Masters Men and Masters Women.
Germany's two European champions were Lennard Weinhold, who claimed the Open Men's title, and Yves Viala, who won the Junior Boys U18 category.
Weinhold produced a score of 18.07 to take the first-ever European Open Men's Rapid Surf title. Norway's Marius Øystein Gerlach finished second with 17.87, while Germany's Konstantin Leugermann took bronze with 17.60.
In the Junior Boys U18, Viala delivered the highest score of the championship, winning the European title with 19.03. His German teammates Antonin Meier and Leander Lu completed an all-German podium with scores of 18.87 and 17.16 respectively.
Germany also secured two further podium places in the Open Women, with Ina Schorr taking silver and Valeska Schneider bronze. Switzerland's Eva Weiss claimed the first-ever European title in the category with a score of 17.43.
Austria's Gretchen Steiner became the first European champion in the Junior Girls U18, scoring 15.76. Germany's Lea Sasse finished runner-up, while Switzerland's Aline Gasser took bronze.
Switzerland dominated the two Masters categories. Fabian Villarroel won the Masters Men title ahead of compatriot Simon Wüthrich, with Austria's Manuel Burger taking third. In the Masters Women, Anna Lemann claimed the European title, completing an all-Swiss podium alongside Nathalie Gasser and Annina Krähenbühl.
A historic first edition
The first European Rapid Surf Championship marks a new chapter for the discipline in Europe, bringing together national teams from across the continent for the first official European titles in Rapid Surfing.
The European Surfing Federation congratulates Germany on becoming the first European Rapid Surf Team Champions, as well as all the athletes who competed in this inaugural edition.
ESF also thanks Swiss Surfing, the judges, volunteers and everyone who supported the championship throughout the week for helping make this historic event possible.