Merle Hauser

After my first experience in a kayak together with my parents, I started to get enthusiastic about kayaking when I was eight years old. At first I was on rivers, until I came into touch with kayak freestyle at the age of eleven.

Thanks to the junior development program of the Landeskajakverband Baden Württemberg I was able to develop my skills in teaching courses and youth competitions. I am proud to say that I was able to compete at the top even in the early years.

A milestone for me was certainly the participation in the German championship 2018 in Augsburg.

From 2019, I started to intensify my training. Through the further development of my skills, it was possible for me to win the German championship titles 2019 (U16), 2020 and 2021 in the junior class. Furthermore, I was able to qualify for the World Championships in Sort, which is one of the highlights of my young career so far.

But it's not just my athletic development that's important to me. I also attach great importance to my personal development. For this purpose I was in Chile for a school exchange year. Of course I worked on my fitness there. This allowed me to win the German championship in 2019, which was the first year in the open junior class.

I also increased my training in the gym and on the water more and more and traveled a lot to the spots. In the last few years I increased my training efforts, long trips to the freestyle spots, flat water training and gym was on my daily or weekly schedule.

All this enabled me to celebrate my greatest sporting successes in 2021. Besides the German and Austrian Open Championships, the European Championship title I won in Paris was my greatest sporting achievement. With my final run of 450 points it would also have been enough for the podium in the senior class, which indicates my next goals.

To be successful in the freestyle sport, you need a lot of ambition and strength. Due to the limited training opportunities, I have to travel a lot at a young age and organize it myself.   I don't mind all that, because my love for freestyle is so big that I take all the effort. Because wherever water is, it is the place where I can improve myself and learn new tricks, it is a place where I am happy.

•  Financing of training camps
• Competition costs, accommodation costs, food costs
• Travel expenses for the competition and training
• Equipment and materials