Astral announced that its sponsored athletes, Nouria Newman and Aniol Serrasolses each took home top honors at the 2021 Whitewater Awards. Serrasolses won Male Rider of the Year, while Newman was named Female Rider of the Year.
Photo courtesy Eric Boomer, Red Bull
Newman, shown above, claimed her fifth consecutive Rider of the Year title, capping a year featuring four first descents, including the Pakidaile and Pucuno Falls in Ecuador (now called Don Wilo’s Falls), becoming the first woman to drop a 100-footer.
Serrasolses, shown below, spent countless hours on the river while locked down in Chile, and even built a cabin home on the Futaleufú. He continued to push the boundaries of downriver freestyle, including a snow kayaking project and the first double kickflip off a waterfall.
Photo courtesy Aniol Serrasolses
“Nouria and Aniol, and all the finalists in this year’s awards, are truly incredible artists and athletes,” said Philip Curry, founder & CEO, Astral. “This award rightly validates their archetypal status in the sport, and we congratulate them for it. I know we at Astral are all mesmerized and inspired by their beautiful relationship with water.”
