{"id":76134,"date":"2023-09-11T11:23:33","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T15:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=76134"},"modified":"2024-02-12T15:43:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T20:43:41","slug":"us-olympic-sailings-daniela-moroz-is-on-the-verge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/racing\/us-olympic-sailings-daniela-moroz-is-on-the-verge\/","title":{"rendered":"US Olympic Sailing’s Daniela Moroz Is On the Verge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Daniela <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Daniela Moroz launches at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Test Event, Marseille, France. Fueled by a passion for kiting and competing, Moroz has risen to and held her place among the pioneers of Women\u2019s Formula Kiteboard racing. <\/span>\n Mark Lloyd\/World Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cI was relieved to have officially qualified for the Olympics,\u201d writes Formula Kiteboard champion Daniela Moroz on her excellent and brutally honest blog<\/a><\/em> post. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve dreamed of my whole life, and it\u2019s crazy to think it\u2019s officially happening – I\u2019m going to be an Olympian. Insane.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

But now comes the hard part. The final push to Marseilles. \u201cThere is a lot of work to be done in the next year leading up to the Games,\u201d she writes. \u201cFor me, the most important thing will be to keep my head in the right place\u2026 there is no off season, no official time where you can recover and disconnect from the job. We think we have to keep training all year, which is completely unsustainable and leads to burnout\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne of my biggest areas of improvement is gaining weight, so I will be working closely with our awesome team of US Sailing Team trainers based just outside of Miami. I truly believe that following this path will still put out net gains for my Olympic sailing because it will re-spark my fire for the sport. My mission is still clear: the goal is gold, and I\u2019m ready to do everything I can to deliver a winning performance at the 2024 Olympic Games.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moroz knows next summer\u2019s Olympic Regatta is not only her first shot at the sport\u2019s first medal, but it could very well be her one and only shot given the emotional and physical drain this campaign has put her through over the past several years at the top of the fleet. There is an underlining urgency in her blog and an honest plea for financial support, which does not come readily from US Olympic coffers. I encourage you to read her latest writing in which she shares the tumultuous experience of her Olympic qualification. She is a legitimate best-medal hopeful for the US Sailing Team, an inspirational sailor that deserves our recognition and support, so let\u2019s all chip in<\/a> what we can to help her soar to the podium (a GoFundMe<\/a> pages is now live as well). It\u2019s what she was born to do. The following conversation was recorded at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in Chicago in June ahead of her qualification and published in the Fall 2023 edition of <\/em>Sailing World Magazine. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Dave Reed<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born to Soar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Daniela <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Daniela Moroz, on the hunt for the first-ever Formula Kite Olympic gold medal, locked in her team berth with a bronze at the 2023 Olympic Test Event in July in Marseille. <\/span>\n Sander Van Der Borch\/World Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

There\u2019s a reason why Daniela Moroz, the six-time kiteboard world champion and four-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year, is always quick to flash a radiant smile. Happiness comes easy for the 22-year-old foiling phenom from San Francisco, which most certainly has something to do with her parents, her upbringing on, in and now above the water, and the fact that she actually enjoys her training as she pushes ever closer to the Formula Kite\u2019s Olympic debut. \u201cI love pushing myself, and I love seeing how far I can go and how well I can perform,\u201d she says. At the moment, she is performing as expected: fast and faster. In Marseille, France, on the very waters of next year\u2019s Olympic regatta, she won a bronze medal in July and locked in her US Sailing Team spot. All that remains is to qualify the US, and from there it\u2019s straight to the big stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most sailors have likely never watched a kiteboard race. How does it go?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is course racing, just like what everyone else does in sailing. It\u2019s windward-leeward courses, and it\u2019s a three-minute start sequence. Instead of having an hour- or half-hour-long race, our races are only about 12 to 15 minutes in qualifying [races]. And then eight to 10 minutes in the medal races. It\u2019s really fast. I learned recently that it\u2019s actually the fastest Summer Olympic sport, which is pretty cool. Upwind we\u2019re going 20 to 25 knots, and downwind we\u2019re pushing into the high 30s pretty comfortably. If you want to go fast, it\u2019s a great class to get into. The equipment is unique, and it\u2019s very dynamic and exciting. I always loved going fast, so that was a big thing that pulled me into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Describe a typical starting approach; it must be madness with all the kites hovering overhead in one \u00adconfined area.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s similar to regular sailing in that you still have your starting routine\u2014do a few line checks, get a transit, check what side of the course has more wind. Then you\u2019re fighting for position on the line and trying not to come off the foil that whole time. There are kites everywhere and RIBs\u2014there\u2019s a lot going on. Once you start, it\u2019s amazing. I always feel like those first 30 seconds are always so interesting because, while holding a lane, there\u2019s this moment of silence where I get into the flow, and I\u2019m going 20 to 25 knots upwind, and I\u2019m trying to see where I can tack out. Everything is happening at such a fast pace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the key to being able to hold that lane?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hiking, which sounds weird for kiting, but that\u2019s what I\u2019m doing. I can be holding up to 120 kilos of load on the board, which transfers into my legs. So, it\u2019s kind of like holding a squat or a wall sit for several minutes upwind. And I just heel over as much as possible. I\u2019m managing all of the power of the kite and kind of putting it into the harness and feeling every little movement to try to point higher and go faster. I\u2019m trying to get the vector from the kite to the board to be as close to 180 degrees as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From there, what are the \u00adtactical fundamentals you have to play out while also managing the kite, the foil, and the rest of the fleet?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speed helps. As always, it\u2019s nice to have a speed edge. When I\u2019m sending into the left corner off the start, I\u2019m always trying to see what my options are. There\u2019s a lot to manage, and I have to get into the flow right away and be conscious of what I\u2019m thinking about and make sure I\u2019m thinking about the right things. In kiting, there\u2019s so much feel that goes into it. The longer you\u2019ve been kiting, the better your field is and the better your reaction times will be to anything that happens with the kite and the foil. The kite and board have to be an extension of your body because you have to be so in sync with it to be able to go fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Daniela <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Behind Daniela Moroz’s ever-present smile is the inner struggle for balance. At the Allianz Sailing World Championships in the Hague this summer, Moroz didn’t medal, but secured her Olympic berth.<\/span>\n Sailing Energy \/ World Sailing<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

When you started competing in international events and won your first Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (in 2016 at the age of 15, the youngest winner ever), the field was tiny\u2014no more than a dozen female competitors. But now the numbers and the competitive field are enormous. It\u2019s amazing to think you\u2019ve been at the tip of this spear for so long.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, it\u2019s really interesting because there\u2019s all these established Olympic sailing classes that have been around \u00adforever, so when it comes to the Olympics, there\u2019s kind of a formula. With kiteboarding, we don\u2019t know what the pathway is, and we have to figure it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve said recently that your technique is sound, but your next hurdles are the \u00adequipment and your weight.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve been kiting for pretty much half of my life now, so my technique is pretty good, my feel is really good, and my boathandling is good. But now it\u2019s a matter of figuring out how to make the most gains and improvements with the equipment. For each regatta, we can have four kites that are different sizes\u2014usually 9, 11, 15 and 21 square meters. We can register only one foil for the whole regatta. I\u2019ve never really been a technical person, and I always blame myself before blaming any of my gear, but now I really have to be more technical and have confidence in my skills and my technique. I know what a fast kite should feel like, and I know how a good foil should feel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does a fast kite feel like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s impossible to describe. It just feels good, and it just takes you where you want to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the weight\u2014is it more advantageous to be heavy or light?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with almost any foiling discipline, weight is important. In kiting, weight is righting moment, so I\u2019m trying to get as heavy as possible. But it\u2019s hard because I want to feel good and I want to feel strong, fit, agile and athletic, but then I also need to be heavy to just be able to go with that. It\u2019s been an interesting mental challenge because I want to have confidence in my body and what I\u2019m able to do, but it\u2019s not always super easy to do that when you know what our sport demands. It\u2019s an interesting balance, but my goal is to be competing for a medal at the Games, and I\u2019m going to do everything I can that\u2019s in my power to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve been transparent about your burnout a few years ago. What happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the 2019 racing season, I was just starting college and able to take some time off and focus on that. But when I got back on the water and back into kite racing, I didn\u2019t feel that fire in me anymore. It was weird because for so many years all I wanted to do was go kite and go shred and have fun on the water. Suddenly, that desire wasn\u2019t there anymore. That\u2019s not normal. That\u2019s not who I am. When COVID happened and all of the 2020 racing season was canceled, I took six months off, and I remember being at a certain point where I didn\u2019t even want to look at my race gear\u2014I didn\u2019t even let myself keep it in the car so I didn\u2019t even have to think about it. It was probably the best thing I could have done for myself at this point because it had taken this weird toll on me where I didn\u2019t want to do it anymore. The thought of going kiting was so unappealing, which was a really weird feeling to have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What got you back on track?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I eventually realized kiting is all I\u2019ve really been doing with my life for six years and I needed to have something besides kiting. Because as much as we love sailing and we love foiling, it is not everything in life. You also need to be happy in order to perform, you need to be enjoying what you\u2019re doing, and you need to be connected with your sport and with nature and with what you\u2019re doing. So, I got a Moth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vagabond pro-kiter lifestyle must be pretty attractive. You get to play and live in some amazing waters and venues.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, I spent maybe 40 days at home. I\u2019m on the road most of the year. There are downsides to that, but I always remember that I really, really love what I\u2019m doing. And when it comes down to it, I love going out and training actually, and I love pushing myself, and I love seeing how far I can go and how well I can perform. So, I always remind myself that I\u2019m super lucky to get to do this and to even do something I love so much. We get to experience the world in such a unique way that few people get to experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of experiences, what is your top speed to date?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was around 38 knots\u2014a burst in a bear away, but not before a wipeout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Olympics-bound Formula Kite superstar Daniela Moroz shares the good and the tough life as she goes all in for her first Olympic appearance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":76132,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Dave Reed","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[1716,786,186,2924,177],"class_list":["post-76134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-daniela-moroz","tag-kite-boarding","tag-olympic-sailing","tag-print-fall-2023","tag-racing"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}