Jeremiasz Kuczma from Lydd-on-Sea who has recently become become the British Champion in Big Air Kitesurfing. And with a variation of the sport set to Debut in the 2024 Olympics, the 14 year-old is hoping that with global recognition, kitesurfing will be shared with as many people as possible.
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00:00 catching waves, getting some big air, and nailing some neat tricks.
00:05 When it comes to water sport, the Kent coast is well-versed in welcoming people from across the globe
00:11 to come along and participate in some fast-paced action.
00:15 And one of those sports is kite surfing.
00:17 Picture this - fearless athletes harnessing the power of the wind
00:22 with a massive kite pulling them along the surface of the water before flying high into the sky.
00:28 When done competitively, kite surfing judges will evaluate performances on a number of factors,
00:34 including the style and execution of tricks, creativity in manoeuvring the kite,
00:39 and of course, the all-important smoothness of landing.
00:43 But the sport does come with some risks.
00:46 One wrong move could prove dangerous and even lead to injury.
00:50 That's no problem, however, for British junior kite surfing champion Jeremias Kutzma from Lyd-on-Sea,
00:56 who has been training for years.
00:57 And quite rightly so, because he's just become the third-seeded junior in the world,
01:03 with his jump of a whopping 22 metres at the recent championships in Portland.
01:08 He says that whilst kite surfing remains his life's passion,
01:12 he wants to inspire more young people to take up the sport.
01:15 And no better time than the present,
01:17 as kite surfing is set to debut in the Olympics for the first time in Paris 2024.
01:23 So who knows, perhaps it's not just catching waves on the cards for Jeremias in the future,
01:28 but perhaps a spot in Team GB could also be up for grabs.
01:31 And I'm joined now by Jeremias here in the studio, well virtually, he's actually,
01:37 you're in the Canary Islands at the moment, getting some more kite surfing under your belt.
01:41 Really good to speak with you nonetheless.
01:43 Now, Jeremias, I'm looking at the pictures of you and the videos of you doing this,
01:48 and I don't have to ask why you've taken up this sport, because it just looks so exciting.
01:52 But tell me about how you first got into it.
01:54 Well, first I got into it because of my parents, and they just like,
02:00 were doing it for like two years or three years before I started doing it.
02:05 And then they tried to get me into it like, for a while, but I never really wanted to do it.
02:12 But then one day it just clicked, and then I just loved it since.
02:17 And I was like eight, I think, so it was like six years ago now, so yeah, it was just like,
02:27 it clicked, wasn't it?
02:28 I mean, it just does look incredible.
02:30 I could not do it myself, and I don't even know where I would start.
02:34 But I suppose that's kind of part of what you're kind of aiming towards.
02:37 You've said in the past that you want to encourage younger people to take up the sport.
02:42 What is it that you think is so exciting that more people should be doing it?
02:46 I reckon it's just good because young people should be doing it.
02:52 It's good, it's just you get so much adrenaline from it.
02:57 And when you start young, you can get so good at it.
03:00 When you get older, and you can win trophies and everything, and you can just go really high.
03:09 I don't know, it's just adrenaline.
03:11 It's just hard, like,
03:12 Absolutely, and you also do it competitively, of course.
03:20 We know that you just won the British Kite Surfing Big Air Championships in your category.
03:26 Tell me, what was that all like?
03:27 And what does that kind of involve?
03:28 We know that the scoring takes, you know, it's not just about how high you're jumping,
03:32 it's about the skill as well, and your kind of landing.
03:35 What went into that competition?
03:38 I'm so thirsty, and like, in my first heat, still haven't got much win.
03:44 I'll just try my best to get through to the final, because I can.
03:48 And it's just about impressing the judges and getting as close as you can,
03:55 so they can see the most technical detail that you do.
03:59 And that's just what gets you the most points.
04:02 And yeah, I'm really stoked about what my results were in that competition.
04:11 And I wanted to ask as well, so the Championships took place in Portland here in the UK,
04:16 and we're looking at the screen now, I believe this is actually here in Kent.
04:19 I've driven past this place in Sandwich a few times, noticed it,
04:23 and obviously it's great to have these facilities here in the county.
04:26 But does it change your approach in any way when you go to somewhere like you are now,
04:31 in Canary Islands, where it's much warmer,
04:33 whereas here in the UK it tends to be a bit colder when we have the kind of big waves?
04:37 Oh yeah, it does help, because I get more training at different spots.
04:43 Here in the Canary Islands it's pretty wavy, and there's even bigger waves in the UK.
04:50 And it just gives me a better idea of what other spots will be like in competitions.
04:58 Now as well, it does come with its dangers, so you've got to be on the ball all the time.
05:03 I'm wondering, how do you prepare yourself, actually physically going into a competition,
05:09 maybe it's a bit warmer one day, a bit more sun bearing down?
05:12 Because it's not just about if you crash, I would imagine,
05:14 it's about making sure the entire way through you're keeping yourself safe.
05:18 Well yeah, if you crash, it's just in competitions it's mostly more of like,
05:28 doing tricks you already know, and you just need to get them on point before the competition,
05:34 and hopefully you won't be crashing them as much.
05:37 But when you do, you need to watch out for other people,
05:40 like doing their tricks, but like, upwind of you, but not to land on you.
05:46 But mostly when you get the hang of it, it's just,
05:49 you, before competitions, you get the tricks down,
05:53 and then you just do them first try, and then, yeah.
05:58 No, absolutely, and I mean, looking at, I mean I don't want to say it looks easy,
06:02 because it absolutely doesn't, but I think when you kind of see these,
06:06 you're looking from the shore, you see you up in the distance, just the speed that you have,
06:09 I don't think really people realise how much, how big the kite is for one thing,
06:14 I mean we're looking at it on the screen now, I mean,
06:16 what's the kind of relationship you have with your kite?
06:19 Because I suppose when you're out there, it's just you, your kite, and the elements.
06:22 Well yeah, you have like different sized kites, so it can range from like, I think it's,
06:31 from like training kites, what are like a metre and a half to like 17 metre kites,
06:39 so it can be a big range of kite, but it's mostly just, for me at least,
06:46 from like a 7 metre kite to like a 14, if it's really light, but mostly it's just,
06:55 it is literally just you and your kite practically, and you just go out and
07:01 with the conditions you have, and then just do what you can.
07:06 And I just wanted to finish off by asking you about the Olympics, so Paris 2024 is going to see
07:12 kiteboarding included for the first time, I believe it was in the Youth Olympics or Junior
07:16 Olympics in previous years, but it's going to be in there for the first time at the Paris Games,
07:22 what does that mean for you as somebody who's coming up through the sports,
07:25 seeing it get this kind of international recognition?
07:27 Well it's really good because obviously it gives you like a lot of motivation to get into the
07:35 Olympics, but it's not a discipline that I'm doing kite surfing, because it's like racing, and
07:45 I do do some of it, like I do try to do it, but it's not something I enjoy, but hopefully soon
07:53 they'll get like kite surfing, like big air or something more like freestyle into like the
07:59 Olympics, and hopefully then I will be able to compete in the Olympics.
08:04 Absolutely, and hopefully it does, you know kite surfing gets picked up as well then.
08:07 Just finally then, I mean the only way that's going to happen is if more people
08:12 pick up the sport, so what's your advice to somebody that's just starting out?
08:15 If you're young and you're just starting out, I reckon just go to as many sports as you can,
08:23 push your sport as much as you can, like the good pro's are doing it, and yeah just
08:32 push your sport as much as you can, so more people can see what you're doing,
08:39 so people can get into the Olympics, and maybe the people who organise the Olympics can
08:45 get kite surfing into it.
08:50 Absolutely, and hopefully we'll see you up there in Team GB one day. Jeremias,
08:55 thank you so much for joining us, really good to speak with you today.
08:57 You too.