Simon Schröder is currently twice the title holder. In 2019 he won the Junior World Championship in the standard class in Szeged, Hungary, and this year the general World Championship in the standard class in Montlucon, France. The great success of Bruno Gantenbrink is a little further back. He won the title in 1989 in Wiener Neustadt in the racing class. Before that, he was twice vice world champion.
For Simon Schröder it is the third visit of the Nambian gliding center. In 2016, he completed the dream distance in Wilfried Großkinsky's 1000 km training camp and then flew it in Germany from Bad Wörishofen. And this time on November 29th it was almost 1250 kilometers at 143 kph. Bruno Gantenbrink collected a good 100 glider flying hours over Namibia this season and several 1000 k distances.
The Bitterwasser Flying Lodge was the main sponsor of the Junior World Gliding Championships, where from August 2 to 17, 2026, around 80 pilots from 22 nations competed for the titles in the Standard and Club classes. The grand prize for the JWGC winners was a one-week stay at the lodge, including travel and an airplane.
Largely unnoticed by the public, the 5th Red Bull Global Aerial Performance Camp 2026 took place in Bitterwasser, Namibia, from April 21, 2026, to April 30, 2026.
A few videos and pictures on this page offer a glimpse of the athletes and their performances.