Young Cameron Maramenides has been involved in kiteboarding since he was in diapers. Sharing a deep passion for the water, Cameron and his father, Dimitri have been riding together since those early days and have had many adventures along the way. After some coaxing from the family, Cameron began training for the Youth Olympic Games this spring in hopes of being accepted to the American team after the qualifying events. 

Under the guidance of coach and former Olympian, Michael Gebhardt, Cameron showed promise early on. The global competitive season was a nail biter seeing Cameron on the podium several times.

Racing has an aura of being unpredictable and Twin Tip Racing is no different. At the Youth Olympic Games in Argentina this October, the weather required the 12 planned races be reduced to 6 races and a final. That final race was moved from Saturday to Sunday due to insufficient wind, and unlike any other IKA Kiteboarding event in the past, the final race was deemed “winner takes all”. Cameron had been sitting in silver medal place all week with a consistent and strong performance. During the final race however, Cameron crossed the finish line in fourth place - one position shy of a podium finish.

Cameron’s family was on hand to give high fives, tight hugs and huge congratulations on an incredible season. Cameron says, “My family is here, and it’s so cool to have them around. I’m so happy to have such a good team behind me in everything that I do.”

“The whole Olympic experience has been something incredible,” Maramenides said. “All different countries, all different nationalities of people coming together in the same community. They’re communicating in different ways, and there is just a great energy here and it’s a lot of fun,” he says of the competitive field.

While Cameron has been involved in kiting most of his life, he’s still new to the competitive racing landscape, and was the youngest competitor in the field. This amazing experience will hopefully be the start of many more successful endeavors for the young athlete.

From all of us – Congratulations Cameron!