Lena Aylin Erdil (born 28 February 1989) is a professional
windsurfer
Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...
from
İzmir
İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
, Turkey. She is competing in the PWA World Tour mostly in the slalom event. She is currently sponsored by NRV, Starboard Windsurfing, Point7, Salzbrenner Würstchen and FGH.
Personal life
Lena Aylin Erdil was born to a Turkish father and a German mother in
İzmir
İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
, Turkey on 28 February 1989. When she was two years old, the family moved to
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
, Germany, and at the age of ten, she moved with her parents to
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium. Her father Güven Erdil is a professor of
sports coaching
An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete.
History
The original sense of the word ''Coach'' is that of a horse-drawn carriage, deriving ultimately from the ...
serving as the Head of Sports Department at
Marmara University
Marmara University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university, named after the Sea of Marmara, was founded as a university in 1982. However, its ...
's Faculty of Sports. Her mother Ellen was a primary school teacher of German language, and sports, who died from
colorectal cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the Colon (anatomy), colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include Lower gastrointestinal ...
at the age of 55 in 2016. Her father and mother had met each other while windsurfing. She spent her childhood years in Germany and Belgium. During summer holidays, she visited Çeşma,
İzmir Province
İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...
for windsurfing.
After completing high school, she received an athletic grant from the
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, England, in 2009, where she majored in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
.
Following graduation, she returned to Turkey at the age of 24, and settled in
Bodrum
Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...
,
Muğla Province
Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...
, in the southwestern
Aegean Region
The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya.
Located in w ...
. In 2007, Erdil opened her own sports school, "Lena Erdil Windsurf Center", in the Ortakent neighborhood of Bodrum with the support of her parents. She hosts pro- X-training activities at her sports center.
In 2019, Erdil moved to Germany to settle in
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
.
Sports career
Erdil used to perform
windsurfing
Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...
in her youth with her parents during the summer holidays in Turkey. She received her first windsurfing board and gear at the age of 13 from her father.
The -tall sportswoman performs windsurfing professionally, competing in the
freestyle
Freestyle may refer to:
Brands
* Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe
* Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile
* Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine
* Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories
Media
* '' FreeStyle'', ...
,
wave
In physics, mathematics, engineering, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from List of types of equilibrium, equilibrium) of one or more quantities. ''Periodic waves'' oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium ...
, and jump events in addition to her main class of slalom. Although the slalom branch is not an Olympic discipline, she prefers it due to its high speed in racing. She also competes on teams. To remain fit for competitions, she exercises three to six hours a day in the summer months, and in the winter time, she goes to
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
, South Africa, for three months.
She debuted in competitive windsurfing at the age of 15. In 2005, Erdil won the junior champion title in the Turkish championship. After being successful in local races, she took part in Turkish championships, and then debuted internationally in 2006. She placed fourth at the 2008 PWA World Tour held in
Alaçatı
Alaçatı is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çeşme, İzmir Province, Turkey. Its population is 10,386 (2022). Before the 2013 Turkish local government reorganisation, 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). It is on t ...
, Turkey, marking her first best international ranking. In 2012, Erdil took third place in the overall standings at the PWA World Cup after being runner-up in the Italian leg at
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...
. She improved her rank in the PWA World Cup's overall classification by placing second in 2014.
At the 2015 International Funboard Class Association (IFCA) Slalom World Championship held in
Sylt
Sylt (; ; Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, with a distinctively shaped shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian Islands and is the largest island in North Fris ...
, Germany, she gained her first championship title, and the next year at the same competition in
Brač
Brač is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, with an area of ,
making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Brač Channel, which is wide. Also in 2016, she was the winner of the PWA World Cup's South Korean leg at
Ulsan
Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...
. As of 2016, she held eight championship titles in the Turkish Women's Slalom Championships. In the following competitions, she secured third or second place in almost every competition. In 2018, she finished the PWA World Cup season as the runner-up in the slalom event after placing second in the legs in
Ulsan
Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...
, South Korea, and
Yokosuka
is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
, the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city i ...
, Japan, as well as ranking third in
Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo () is a concelho, municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo District, Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 85,778, in an area of . The urbanized are ...
Lüderitz
Lüderitz is a town in the ǁKaras Region of southern Namibia. It lies on one of the least hospitable coasts in Africa. It is a port developed around Robert Harbour and Shark Island. Lüderitz had a population of 16,125 people in 2023.
Th ...
, Namibia. This is the second-best world record for women at all.
One of Erdil's main sponsors is
Red Bull
Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...
since 2011. She is nicknamed "Rüzgarin Kızı" (''Daughter of the Wind'') in her country.