{"id":12104,"date":"2026-05-11T13:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/12104\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T13:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T13:56:15","slug":"germany-wins-nations-trophy-wave-pool-comp-in-munich","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/12104\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany Wins Nations Trophy Wave Pool Comp in Munich"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Under sunny skies and temperatures of 21 degrees, Team Germany won the second Rip Curl Nations Trophy presented by Citro\u00ebn at O\u2082\u00a0SURFTOWN MUC. In the final heat, the team won 5\u20133 against last year\u2019s winners, Spain.<\/p>\n<p>Around 5,500 spectators watched the thrilling contest live from the edge of the 180-metre wave pool \u2013 with a ride length of up to 25 seconds, the longest artificially generated ride in Europe. Those right at the front got a bit wet on the spectacular waves \u2013 a proximity to the action that isn\u2019t possible at traditional surf contests by the sea. Eight national flags flew above the pool, accompanied by DJ sets, food trucks and a crowd that grew louder with every wave \u2013 until Team Germany were crowned champions in the evening.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-Nations-Trophy-Surftown-MUC-shred-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"2026 Nations Trophy Surftown MUC shred\" class=\"wp-image-23904 webpexpress-processed\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Home victory under pressure<\/p>\n<p>The expectation to deliver for Germany at their home spot in Munich had weighed noticeably on all four athletes. Even in the run-up to the event, Olympic surfer Leon Glatzer had spoken of \u201craw nerves\u201d within the team \u2013 stable in their approach, but under pressure. In the end, it was Glatzer himself who delivered the decisive moment: a controlled straight air in the Air Right section, which took the final score to 5\u20132 and secured the trophy for Team Germany. On the very last wave of the final, Camilla Kemp then raised both fists in the air and conceded a consolation point to Spain \u2013 the whole team was already celebrating; the victory had long since been decided. Final score: 5\u20133.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/nations-trophy-high-fives-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23907 webpexpress-processed\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Eight nations, a unique format<\/p>\n<p>What makes the Rip Curl Nations Trophy unique: in professional surfing, competitions are traditionally contested for individual titles and World Tour points \u2013 here, everyone surfs for their own nation. 32 athletes, two men and two women per team, competed against each other in Germany\u2019s first surf park, on changing wave modes generated by pneumatic air pressure. The o2 SURFTOWN MUC is the world\u2019s first facility of this state-of-the-art endless surf design, set to open in 2024 in Hallbergmoos near Munich. In the semi-finals, Germany and Spain were joined by France and the International Team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a head-to-head, you only get one go per wave \u2013 it\u2019s more nerve-wracking than almost anything else in surfing,\u201d said Janina Zeitler, Team Germany athlete. \u201cThe fact that we pulled it off as a team is a huge relief.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Nations-Trophy-swoosh-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Nations Trophy swoosh\" class=\"wp-image-23908 webpexpress-processed\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Last year\u2019s winners Spain defeated<\/p>\n<p>In its second edition, the Rip Curl Nations Trophy has significantly increased its profile. By being held on Europe Day, the event has established itself as a European sporting event on the international surfing calendar. Last year\u2019s winners Spain came into 2026 looking to defend their title, but this time they were defeated by the German team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGermany was the better team today; that\u2019s sport. But the energy with which people are surfing here in Munich for their own nation is something you don\u2019t see in traditional surfing,\u201d said Gony Zubizarreta of Team Spain\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Chris Boehm-Tettelbach, CEO and founder of O\u2082\u00a0 SURFTOWN MUC said they wanted a format that makes surfing a collective experience. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened here today shows that team surfing has found its own audience. We\u2019re going to build on that,\u201d said Chris.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Between heats, live DJs and food trucks at the poolside created a festival atmosphere. After the awards ceremony at 7.45 pm, MCs, judges and helping hands took to the wave for an expression session \u2013 freer, without scoring, featuring wipeouts and roars of cheers from the crowd. The celebrations continued late into the night at the after-party with all eight nations and guests.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-Nations-Trophy-Munich-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"2026 Nations Trophy Surftown MUC shred\" class=\"wp-image-23902 webpexpress-processed\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>At a glance<\/p>\n<p>Nations: 8 (Germany \u00b7 Italy \u00b7 Scandinavia \u00b7 Spain \u00b7 Portugal \u00b7 France \u00b7 UK\/Ireland \u00b7 International)<\/p>\n<p>Athletes: 32 (16 women, 16 men)<\/p>\n<p>Wave settings: 4 (Point Right \u00b7 Air Right \u00b7 Point Left \u00b7 Air Left)<\/p>\n<p>Semi-finals: Germany \u00b7 Spain \u00b7 France \u00b7 International<\/p>\n<p>Final score: 5:3 to Team Germany<\/p>\n<p>Wave pool: 180 metres long, ride length up to 25 seconds<\/p>\n<p>Spectators: around 5,500<\/p>\n<p>Placings<\/p>\n<p>Germany (Leon Glatzer, Janina Zeitler, Dylan Groen, Camilla Kemp)<\/p>\n<p>Spain (Gony Zubizarreta, Sean Gunning, Lucia Machado, Ainara Aymat)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Under sunny skies and temperatures of 21 degrees, Team Germany won the second Rip Curl Nations Trophy presented&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[11968,11969,5,11970,11971,11972],"class_list":{"0":"post-12104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-2026-nations-trophy","9":"tag-europe-day","10":"tag-germany","11":"tag-surftown-muc","12":"tag-team-challenge","13":"tag-wave-pool-contest"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}