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Stephanie "Steph" Bridge (born 14 July 1972) is a British kitesurfer who became the World Formula Kite champion five times between 2009 and 2016. She is the leading figure in the "Team Bridge" family.

Life

Bridge was born on 14 July 1972.

She won her first Formula Kite World Championship at the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco in 2009. This was the final race of six championship races and qualification rounds. Sean Farley took the men's championship. She won four more Formula Kite World Championships between 2009 and 2016, and two medals at the Formula Kite European Championships, gold in 2012 and silver in 2016. In 2012 she was in Cagliari in Italy at the Kiteboard Course Racing World championships. She took the silver medal after being narrowly beaten by the American Erika Heineken who took the gold.

In 2015 she set out from Cowes in the Isle of Wight accompanied by her son Guy Bridge [es]. They said this a practice run for a later record attempt but fifteen year old Guy broke the record when he returned to Cowes as the youngest person to complete the 60 mile circuit by kite-surfing. His time was 3 hours and 34 minutes and Steph's time was just under four hours.

In 2016 she was not only ranked the best woman kite surfer in the world but her three sons all held titles. Her eldest son, Oliver Bridge [es], was the Men's European Race Champion, her youngest son, Tom Bridge, was the European Youth Freestyle Champion and her middle son, Guy Bridge, was the world champion at Youth Freestyle.

Steph Bridge took the bronze medal in the 2016 World Championship at Weifang Binhai in China. In that year Daniela Moroz won her first world title in light winds. An 18 year old Russian, Elena Kalinina, was second.

In 2020 when the UK launched a campaign to find more leading women kite surfers for the 2024 Olympics it was Steph Bridge who was mentioned.

Private life

She married Eric Bridge and their three boys are professional kitesurfers.

References

1. ^ Hodgetts, Rob (1 June 2016). "Family flying high on kitesurfing". CNN.
2. "ISAF 2015 Kites entry list" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 September 2015.
3. "Sean Farley and Steph Bridge take 2009 Kiteboarding Course Racing World Championship Title in San Francisco". Kiteboarding & Kitesurfing. 9 August 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
4. "World Sailing - Stellar Performance From Heineken Siblings Sees Them Take Kiteboard Crowns". World Sailing. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
5. "New Kitesurf Record Set Around The Isle Of Wight". afloat.ie. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
6. Brown, Luke (12 May 2016). "Meet Steph Bridge: Mother, team manager and five-time kite race world champion". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
7. "Moroz and Kalinina Tied After Russian Rider Turns Tables in Light Breezes - International Kiteboarding Association". www.kiteclasses.org. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
8. "IKA FORMULA KITE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CHINA". The Kite Mag. 2016.
9. "WANTED! Female Athletes Sought for GBR Kiteboarding Talent Programme". afloat.ie. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
10. "Family First, Kitesurfing Second: Meet kitesurfing's most famous family". Sports Gazette. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2024.

• British kitesurfers
• 1972 births
• Living people
• People from Exmouth