During the upcoming weeks the waters of Aruba will color red with the sails of the Senior IQ Foil teams. After a successful training camp last winter, TEAM NL has chosen Aruba again for their winter training. Together with the Senior IQ Foil team of Aruba, they will hit Aruba’s waters, preparing for the worldwide tournaments in 2022, organized by World Sailing. The majority of the teams have arrived already, and even some female athletes from Norway and Peru will join the training. The Senior IQ Foil team of Aruba exists of Ethan Westeram, Malik Hoveling, Tom de Vries and world champion Sarah Quita Offringa. Team NL brings in a big team, including world champion Lilian de Geus and Olympic champion 2021 Kiran Badloe. It is a great honor for Aruba to welcome all these professionals. Besides their own training program, the pro’s will also share tips & tricks in a couple of clinics for Aruba’s “development team” which exists of Jort Hartmans, Tame Mondria, Tijn Hartmans and David van der Varst. It is an exceptional opportunity for our Aruban athletes to spend time with the pro’s on the water and learn from them.
The IQ foil class is the new Olympic class and replaces the RSX Windsurf class on the next Olympic summer games in 2024. It is a highly dynamic and spectaculair sport to watch. The teams are on the beach and on the water on a daily basis and everyone is invited to “the huts” to take a peek and enjoy this new watersport vibe.
In addition to the training camp, Tom de Vries will represent Aruba during the PANAM Youth and Junior Games in Cali, Colombia. Together with 7 other athletes he will strive for the gold.
Interesting fact to know is that Aruba takes the 11th place on the Word Sailing ranking list for countries and has 3 athletes in the top 80 of the world. This is quite an impressive result and gives great perspectives for the next Olympics in 2024.
