Cayman’s brilliant kitesurfer Amy Strzalko surprised herself with a fourth place finish against some of the world’s best at a competition in Hood River, Oregon last weekend.
The Bridge of The Gods competition was tough for part-time professionals like Strzalko but she managed to hold her nerve and finish higher than expected at her favorite kite spot.
The conditions there are renowned for testing competitors to their limits and Strzalko, who is more used to the relative calm of Barkers, Seven Mile Beach and East End, was up for the challenge.
The judges sit in a place right at the top of a 30 foot cliff so competitors had to get really close to the shore to impress.
This is extremely hard because not only is it psychologically strange to do a trick approaching huge rocks but there is also a big wind shadow so the wind changes very fast, Strzalko said.
The kiters felt overpowered in the first heat so they all went for smaller kites in the second as the wind was coming up.
“In Cayman I’m used to constant wind and flat water so the conditions in Hood River were really testing,” Strzalko said.
After the heats were drawn everyone agreed that Strzalko had a difficult line up. She was up against some of the top competitors in the industry including the celebrated Colleen Carroll, one of the world’s best.
Strzalko was just hoping to land her best tricks because last year she did not really accomplish that. This time she nailed it. She has been a pro for four years and her main sponsor is local kitesurfing company Slingshot.
“I had no expectations to go through into the final but obviously was over the moon with the result,” she said.
“I was against three other extremely tough competitors. The heat was very close. I managed to land all of my hard tricks and advanced into the final with Carroll.”
A proud Strzalko was ecstatic at having got that far and to have had such a consistent heat.
Her strategy in the final was to go for tricks she was already good at, score well, then aim for harder tricks.
Her first half was strong with a few good tricks then she had a few unfortunate crashes which left her in fourth place.
“I am very pleased with that though next year I am aiming for the podium for sure,” said the 34-year-old Brit.
“You can’t hold back. You only have 10 minutes to pull off as much stuff as possible so every trick counts.”
In Cayman as soon as the wind picks up again she is going to train hard with tricks she wants to perfect before her next event “but as long as I am on the water and inspiring more people to give the sport a go then I’m happy.”
She wants to try for one more trip this year.
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