This summer will not only mark the Olympic debut of St. Mary’s College of Maryland alum Markus Edegran, but the event he is competing in as well: Formula Kite.
Formula Kite, also known as kiteboarding, is a water sport that combines surfing, wakeboarding and paragliding. Athletes are harnessed to a large, hand-controlled kite and use a board to glide across the water.
It is one of the 10 sailing events and one of the fastest Olympic events, with sailors reaching up to 50 mph, featured in Paris this summer.
Kiteboarding has long been seen as a recreational activity. And while it is now being taken more seriously as a true competitive sport, it’s how many, including Edegran, got their start.
“For most of us, it starts as like a recreational hobby,” Edegran said on Glenn Clark Radio June 10. “Kiteboarding, aside from attempting to race, it’s a big sport recreationally. So, if you’re anywhere on the coast [or] at the beach with good winds, you’ll probably see a few people out on the weekend just going back and forth on their kiteboard.”
Edegran, 30, grew up sailing on the Hudson River in New York. His father, who hails from Sweden and spent his summers sailing, signed Edegran up for a sailing summer camp when he was 8 years old.
After that, Edegran latched on to sailing, and when the time came to choose where he would sail in college, the nationally ranked sailing program at St. Mary’s stood out.
As soon as Edegran got to St. Mary’s, he felt part of the sailing team’s family, led by longtime head coach Adam Werblow. During Werblow’s 36-year tenure, the team has won 17 national titles. Seahawks sailors have earned more than 150 individual All-American honors. St. Mary’s Olympic history includes silver-medal sailor Scott Steele.
“The environment of the sailing team and the level to which we pushed each other every day on the water [and] after classes [helped prepare me for the Olympics],” Edegran said. “[It] definitely was a special time and definitely the best team I’ve been a part of.”
And it was in St. Mary’s River where Edegran learned how to kiteboard.
“I was in the early stages of learning to kiteboard while I was in school,” he said. “But I remember having the opportunity to get out in the middle of the day before my next class and get on the water with a kiteboard and starting to learn more of the basics of kiteboarding.”
The Olympics were always in the back of Edegran’s mind, especially after kiteboarding was confirmed as an Olympic event. Although he is still processing the reality of qualifying for the Olympics, Edegran is extremely proud to represent his country as a first-generation American and the kiteboarding community.
“Kiteboarding’s debut in the Olympics, it represents a whole other sphere of people enjoying the wind and the water around the country,” Edegran said.
With this summer being kiteboarding’s Olympic debut, Edegran does not have a formula for success to study or practice. But as he’s getting used to the weather and conditions in Paris now, he knows he has to be one thing: fast.
“There’s a certain amount of execution that you’re going to need to pull off at the Games,” Edegran said, “but I’m just going to need to find some extra speed and go into the Games as one of the fastest guys in the competition and then, yeah, I’ll have a good shot.”
For more from Edegran, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Markus Edegran/US Sailing Team