Team News

Euro Blog: First German Ever on Dream Tour Marlon Lipke to Start Campaign Tomorrow

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 26 February, 2009 : - - Marlon Lipke (DEU), 24, the first German surfer ever to become a member of the ASP World Tour, will paddle out tomorrow for his first heat against some of the world’s best surfers for the first round of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks.

Lipke, who will be surfing on his backhand on the world famous righthanders of Coolangatta, will meet former ASP World Champion CJ Hobgood (USA) and Dream Tour veteran powersurfer Taylor Knox (USA). The German man, who has made the trip to Australia with his younger brother Melvin to train and get ready for his grand start, sent us his thoughts as a rookie prepared to enter the arena of elite professional surfing. Check it out...

"Snapper Rocks... I have been coming here for almost ten years now so I know the place and the wave quite well but I think I've only managed to catch ten waves with all this crowd in the water... Hahaha... No seriously, I know the wave but probably not enough to know which set will be better and which waves will offer better scoring potential on a difficult day. However, I think it is a good wave for goofyfooters and I had some sick rides a week ago and it definitely gave me confidence.

Can't wait to get things started, being part of this big European group is really great, they are all amazing surfers and great people so I am looking forward to spending my time on tour with the rest of the crew.

I don't really know what to expect from the tour this year and that's why I am not feeling 100% confident but I know after a few events I will have some good experience and will find my cruising speed. I am still the same mellow guy that was on the WQS last year and there’s no big change on my personal approach so I am excited to get on with some new experiences.

Being a newcomer amongst all the best surfers of the planet makes me happy and I fell like I have nothing to lose. I will take my time to find out my strenghts on tour and possibly establish myself. Compared to what I have been through on the WQS, I feel there's a lot less pressure now and everything is bonus.

Speaking about my training for the start of the tour, I don't have the best training facilities where I live but I trained a lot at the gym with my brother Melvin and I am definitely physically fit. Mentally, I am just going to use the same tactics as I did last year on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS), take as it goes, go with the flow and have as much fun as possible to enjoy that unique opportunity.

Looking at my equipment, I spent a lot of time working on the boards for the different venues of the tour and I believe my Shaper Nick from Semente Surfboards has come up with some really good stuff for me.

Since Hawaii and the nerve testing finish there, I travelled a bit around Europe and in Portugal where I live. I went to Munich in Germany to surf the famous river wave there which was super fun despite the ice floating around and the freezing weather. Then I went to France to get some waves and start training and we got some good swells but it was very cold as well.

In January and at the beginning of February, I drove to Lisbon and Ericeira as much as possible to surf different waves and be there for every swell. I had really good waves for the first week but then the weather went crazy and I had to stay at home in the South of Portugal. But I had a good winter.

With all the travel coming up, I will try and have some friends and family with me as much as possible. My brother and two friends have made the trip to Australia, we have been having a great time with a stopover in Frankfurt in Germany for my birthday on the way and my manager Quirin Rohleder is here as well.

It's great to have them around. But I can’t wait to get back to some events with my other friends who are still on the WQS like Gony (Zubizarreta), Hodei (Collazo), Justin (Mujica), Jonathan (Gonzalez) and Pablo (Gutierrez)."

www.aspeurope.com
www.aspworldtour.com  

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