Courtesy of: The Morning News
by: Rosalie Klein
The Professional Windsurfing Association ended their 2012 circuit on Sunday, October 7, with the Reno World Cup in Sylt, Germany. The final event in the world tour held some surprises, but the crowning of Aruba’s own Sarah-Quita Offringa as the PWA Women’s World Champion Freestyle was not one of them. Second place went to Laura Treboux of Switzerland and third to Arrianne Aukes of Holland.
This last event saw famed Bjorn Dunderbeck arriving with the lead for the championship title in Men’s Slalom, only to lose it at the 11th hour to Antoine Albeau of France. Sarah Quita had already locked in her world championship trophy during the Sotavento Fuerteventura World Cup in Spain at the end of July.
At the finish of 2011, Sarah Quita held three World Championship titles, Open Women’s World Champion Freestyle, Open Women’s World Champion in Slalom and Women’s Youth Champion, as she was still under 21. This year, she had cut back on participation in events to concentrate on her studies at the University of Utrecht division of Science and Innovation Management. She is presenting focusing on Sustainable Development and Organizational Networks.
She traveled to Sylt only to accept her PWA World Champion trophy, and enhance the event with her presence. At the beginning of September she participated in the World Cup in Alacati, Turkey, in the Slalom events, just to prove she could have maintained her crown in the discipline as long as competitions do not intrude on her studies. A supreme athlete, she left the field way behind in the final elimination, to take the gold medal and first place trophy.
Sarah-Quita is the PWA Women’s World Freestyle Champion for the fifth consecutive year, having won her first world champion title in 2008 at the age of 17. She set a new record for the youngest woman to ever win a world title. She also holds the record for the youngest PWA windsurfer to win a gold medal, having turned pro when she was 12 years old. In five year’s she has not lost a single freestyle heat when competing. Her status as a superstar of the PWA circuit has won her a several places on the header of their website.
The 2013 world championship circuit will begin March 1 in Mui Ne Bay in Binh Thuan Provence with the PWA Vietnam Grand Slam. Sarah-Quita will compete if it does not interfere with her exams.
