Kiteboarding In The Rough Waters Off San Francisco Prepared Daniela Moroz For A Windy Welcome At The Olympics

When imagining the perfect weather by the ocean, most people would picture a calm, warm and sunny day to relax on the beach or enjoy time in the water. 

Those conditions don’t appeal to Daniela Moroz at all — at least not when she’s competing as a world-class kiteboarder. Moroz, a six-time world champion, prefers her weather to be a bit more chaotic. 

“I definitely like the strong wind,” Moroz said. “Growing up in San Francisco, it’s always super windy, so I’m better when it’s super windy.”

The 23-year-old from Lafayette, California, could be in luck when she competes in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 tomorrow, which will be the first Games to include kiteboarding. All sailing events will take place at the Marseille Marina, 500 miles south of Paris in the Mediterranean Sea, an area with such a distinct wind pattern that it has its own name: mistral. 

Strong cold and dry wind begins in the highlands in the north and travels along the Rhône valley all the way to the coast. While those winds are typically at their peak in the winter (with average gusts of 45 mph and up to 80 mph), there’s still the chance they could create difficult racing conditions at the Olympics. 

Moroz has had plenty of time to get used to the weather in France, as she spent all last summer in Marseille preparing for the Games. She then became the first American to qualify for the Olympics as a kiteboarder when she finished fifth at last August’s world championships. 

Moroz has been back in France throughout this spring and summer to continue to acclimate herself to the local climate. She competed in two regattas in Hyères, France, in the spring, including the 2024 Formula Kite World Championships in May, where she placed seventh. After worlds, she packed her bags and moved back to Marseille, where she planned to stay until the Games begin. 

The daughter to two windsurfers, Moroz began kiteboarding when she was 11. She described kiteboarding as the “fastest Summer Olympic sport,” as boarders can move at speeds up to 40 mph during races. 

Going fast is something Moroz said she’s always loved, so it took her no time to get used to those speeds. And since she grew up in the Bay Area, she adapted quickly to the extreme weather that comes with competing on the ocean. 

“San Francisco is notorious for being a really difficult place to sail,” she said. “I think that’s part of the reason why I was able to get so good so early on because I was constantly sailing in a really difficult venue.”

Only a year after picking up the sport, Moroz started competing in races at her local yacht club. She then raced in her first international event when she was 14. By the time she was 21, she claimed her sixth consecutive kiteboarding world title, winning them in venues across the world like China, Oman and Italy. 

Moroz also credits her success thus far to a determination instilled in her by her parents, both of whom coincidentally fled Czechoslovakia in 1983 and made it all the way to California, where they met. 

“I had this innate drive that I always wanted to be the best in whatever I was doing,” she said. “The fact that they left their lives to be able to come to America and start a new life — I may not have known it at the time, but it made me want to work really hard and pursue whatever I wanted to put my heart into.” 

That wasn’t always kiteboarding. Moroz grew up as a swimmer and remembers watching Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte and Missy Franklin compete at the Games and envisioning herself winning gold at the Olympics one day. 

That dream is now a possible reality, with Moroz qualifying for Paris almost a full year before the Opening Ceremony. However, Moroz described the moment she qualified as a “relief” instead of a celebration, as it came in the middle of a draining racing season. 

“I got really burnt out early in the season and I just wasn’t really enjoying my training that much,” she said. “I was kind of forcing myself to go on the water and I wasn’t loving what I was doing and that kind of transferred over to my results. … That combined with not having the passion that I know deep down I have was really tough.” 

Moroz took the whole winter off from sailing and played other sports like tennis and golf. She also met with — and continues to meet with — a sports psychologist, which has helped her regain the passion she’s had for kiteboarding for more than a decade. 

“I’m buzzing about getting back on the water and for my next training session and to be racing again,” she said.