News
Friday, April 4: Sweden’s Emma-Nellie Ortendahl, the three-time Ski Ladies GP1 World Champion, has confirmed that she is stepping away from aquabike racing to focus on developing her business.
The talented 26-year-old Gothenburg resident burst onto the UIM-ABP Aquabike Circuit Pro World Championship scene in 2014 at the Grand Prix of Italy in Milan. She finished second in the World Championship behind Jennifer Menard the following season claiming a stunning maiden title triumph in 2016 with a staggering nine Moto wins from 10 heats. The Swede went on to retain her title in 2017 and won for a third time in 2019 after finishing as runner-up the previous year.
“I have raced in the Aquabike World Championship for 10 years and it has been a huge part of my life and a journey that has taught me in both the sporting world and also made me grow as a person,” reflected Ortendahl. “I now want to focus on my businesses.
The mental load is now too heavy to do all the work that it takes to continuously develop, test and try out new parts and equipment to be on top of the game. And, as we all know, it’s the world titles that I’ve been here for. It’s both time and money-consuming and now my reasoning is that all that time and money will do better in my business.”
The Swede admits that she still has a burning passion for the sport. “I will come back to visit and cheer for my Swedish girls and Samuel (Johansson) and Linus (Lindberg) too. If my work with my businesses will be good, maybe I will have the opportunity to do a comeback in the future. Time will tell.”
Looking back on her 10 years at the top of the sport, Emma-Nellie reflects: “My first big memory was my first win in slalom and third place on the podium in Qatar in 2015. It felt great to be a rookie on the tour, only 16 years-old and matching the great racing results from the top ladies in the world.
“My second big memory was not a happy one but one of the greatest lessons in my life. It was also in 2015, when I came leading the World Championship by a few points, but lost it because my jetski broke and I had to switch engines before the last Moto. I had to start at the back of the grid. I put in a protest and it just was so stressful and a lot of drama happening on land.
It felt like I lost the world title that year because of a lot of things, but my biggest lesson was when I learned from it and decided that I wanted to prove on the water that I was the best.
“It was my biggest motivation in my next years of racing, to be so fast and win to ensure that the 2015 situation would never happen to me again. With motivation and drive from that, I really stepped up my physique and equipment and made it a reality in the coming years to prove my racing. If my ski was working, no one could beat me.
I believe that the effort I showed really made the Ladies class take a big step to increase the level of racing and make it more entertaining to watch.”
Ortendahl’s favourite memories were her three world titles in 2016, 2017 and 2019 along with her five slalom victories. “I had the mindset of a champion and proved it over and over again. I also have all of my best and most amazing memories with all my best friends and together with the best aquabike community on the tour. Those are the people who have made the journey worth it. Thank you everyone.
“’What would tempt me back in the future?’ Maybe to try the future development on jetskis or just to make sure no one forgets me. Or, maybe, a severe crippling aquabike withdrawal episode. Joking aside, I’m very excited to put all of my effort into my businesses and continue to get bigger and bigger projects in the geotechnical surveying field. This is a new beginning and I’m determined to be just as successful in this!”
Everyone at Aquabike Promotion wishes Emma-Nellie best wishes for her ongoing business ventures.