This is Heidi Ulrich, the Swiss Athlet is the fastest
Speed Surfer in the World.
She holds the world record over 500 meters
and the nautical mile. Heidi has the need for speed. Always aiming
to go faster. Who is the woman behind the records?
what motivates her? We dive into the life of a woman who has
just one goal: to be the fastest on the surface of the water.
It's about beating myself, going faster and setting a real world record.
Here in the middle of the highest mountains in the Alps, Heidi Ulrich
is at home. Speed surfing is all about the wind. Heidi lives with her partner
Chris Arnold by the Uri Lake, home to constantly changing weather.
Slowly, I can feel the wind a little bit. What does the app say?
It looks like it's already 16 knots. Here it looks good as well and it's even better
on the other side. So, let's check outside. 17 to 18 knots here.
Oh yeah, a lot of people are already out.
You can see the white caps on the Lake. So let's go down
and have a session. Yes, let's go.
Speed surfing is the Formula 1 of wind-powered water sports.
Heidi has ideal training conditions, living right by a lake. For her extreme sport
she needs good equipment and very high winds. Fear is not an option.
At over 80 kilometers per hour, every wrong decision
can we deadly. This time, a storm is brewing.
But Heidi loves the thrill of it.
This was one of the most mystic sessions I ever had.
In between a second all can change and windy and wavy and everything.
It was almost hailing, but the wind was nice.
Today was around twenty minutes, but then normally on a normal
training day, around 2 to 4 hours, but then it's normally sunny and a bit warmer.
And now it was just heavy rain and a little thunderstorm without lightning,
that's why we went out. But it was fun anyway.
In 2019, Heidi was aiming to break her 500 meter world record
but her efforts were to no avail.
In 2019, I also had another profession.
I was Head of HR, I was responsible for a team of
six people and it was for me super hard to focus.
I was 6 weeks in Namibia and I had to work as well.
So after six weeks of competing in this speed channel, I went
home with no record. No record means I missed the world record
by 0.3 km/h. I also missed the Swiss women's record
by 0.1 km/h. It was quite a hard time for me
because I really had to think what I want to do and what I was going
to change in my life. Back in Switzerland, I decided to quit
my job as a HR manager. My new role was not a manager anymore and
this was the best decision ever.
Then COVID hit and Heidi had to wait three years to set another world record.
After this big disaster for me in 2019, without any records,
in 2022, on the second to last day of the event,
the wind was just perfect in the morning
and we did this record.
I collapsed because of happiness. It was such a big achievement for me, really.
And one of the special things in 2022 was also
I was the first woman ever who finished in the Top 10 of the men's ranking.
That's insane.
Her partner Chris has supported Heidi from the very first moment.
A great love story, in both sports and life.
Without the support of Christian, nothing would happen like that.
We came together seven years ago and I said to him, I have one goal in my life:
I want to do this world record in Namibia.
It was maybe after two weeks or something like that. And he said to me.
Well, I know you can do it.
He learned to speed surfing because of me, because he wanted to understand
how it works. And then he taught me to do real speed surfing.
Just by myself I think it wouldn't have been possible to get this world record.
It's really one of the biggest gifts to share,
mostly all of the passion together.
We don't have to speak a lot with each other, we really have
the same feeling and we just enjoy every single second
when we are doing something outside. It doesn't matter if it's
rainy your windy or snowy or whatever. We both have the motto:
Enjoy every single second of your life. I mean, do what you love
as much as you can. That's one of the points why we are that happy.
Competitions, training and work: Heidi's everyday life is filled to the brim.
I start at 5 or 6 o’clock in the morning. I go up the mountains,
do some trail running for around 2 to 4 hours.
Afterwards I come back. I work until lunch and in the afternoon normally
the thermal wind is blowing and we go out for a windsurfing training session.
If there is no wind in the afternoon,
we are going to do some mountain biking or climbing. And after dinner normally
I work again. I don't like training in the gym. I train my whole body
always outside in the nature.
If I don't do trail running in the morning, I go out
on the beautiful lake, on the glassy water with a stand-up paddle
or a surfboard to train my upper body.
The upper body is super important for windsurfing. My training takes like
around 20 to 30 hours per week, next to 100% of working. It's not always
easy to put everything under one hat like we say in German, but I really
love my life. I really love what I do. And that's why I think it's
everything so successful.
Back in the day, Heidi had a tough time, combining work and sport.
Now, she has found the right balance.
My company is my biggest sponsor because they allow me to work
most of the time remotely. It means I can combine working and doing
my windsurfing like almost a professional.
I'm working a lot early in the morning or late in the evening,
This allows me to do my practicing during the day.
The long break during the COVID pandemic
saw Christian and Heidi come up with alternative training exercises.
Christian loves to build everything by himself, so he did
this little slackline, especially made for our leaving room.
We are not just doing outdoor sports, we also do a lot of
core stabilization because to be stable on the windsurf board is super important
because the less movement we have, the faster we are.
Because as soon as we move the sail, we lose speed.
That's why we have trained a lot on this thing here. This is a slackline.
But also on this Sypoba to really focus on the whole body stabilization.
These two things are really perfect.
The chance for her next world record attempt is getting closer.
Heidi has trained hard but there are many variables out of her control.
So now the next goal is to go back to France
for the world record attempt over the nautical mile,
the long distance, as we say in speed surfing.
But in 2019, we had to avoid a big sandbank
so it was not possible to go straight along the beach.
That's why I know if everything around will be perfect,
the wind, the angle, the beach, I know I can go faster than I was in 2019.
It's about beating myself, going faster and setting a real world record.
Hello, welcome to France.
We are here at the world record attempt over a nautical mile.
This place is called La Plage du Rouet, which is the third windiest place on Earth.
And it's just perfect for speed sailing because here you normally have
“Tramontana”. It’s a very strong wind from the Pyrenees and you have
90 degrees offshore wind and you can go close to the beach
and try to go as fast as you can.
For the world record attempt we have some different kind of stuff
which I am wearing like two weighted vests of them.
Here inside I’m going to put some weights, a 2 kilo plate of lead.
I’m going to put this inside my weight vest and if the wind is stronger blowing,
then I'm going to put on more lead.
And I am normally wearing two or three vests of this.
And because the speed rule is it doesn't care how much
additional weight you put in your vest, but you have to float.
Speedsurfing enthusiasts come from all over the world and are constantly
attempting new world records. Sometimes they have to wait weeks
until the wind conditions are just right.
As soon as the wind is blowing properly, everything has to move very fast.
Well, it's looking like the wind is picking up a little bit and the direction is not so bad.
So I think as soon he will open the race, we go again.
The wind is picking up, so let's go. Let's go.
In order to set a world record, the average speed over a nautical mile is calculated.
That's 1.852 km exactly. The aim is to hit just over 70 km/h.
Day 1 is over now. The wind was super gusty, which means super unstable
and super shifty and not so strong. I did around 15 runs
and on my watch I was faster than the world record,
but I think it's not enough in between the world record video gate.
Let's wait until they check it this evening.
Otherwise tomorrow is another day, so let's go again.
The next morning, she is dealt a surprise.
Congrats, yesterday some big numbers! Heidi, she set the world record.
But Heidi isn't satisfied quite yet. Today the conditions are optimal
and she wants to go again.
Not rolling. Millimeter job - just to go fast and its…unbelievable. Forever Speed!
I did it again! 38.4 on the GPS, so that’s a clear one!
Heidi has broken her own record once more,
71.4 kilometers per hour.
Never has a woman been faster on the water.
I already set the world record yesterday by a tiny, tiny little bit.
And today I really set a new one by 38.45 on the GPS. Wow. I'm just stoked.
I'm so proud of me and super happy to share this with my partner in crime, Christian.
And one of the keys to achieve this goal is for sure, just having fun on the water.
I'm just enjoying every single second and I try to do each run with a big smile,
even if it's that hard.
And I think that's really one of the keys of my success.
Just having fun and then enjoy life and just do the best of it.