Some men are born with the sea in their blood. Bruno Sroka is one of them.
Yet he grew up far from the ocean, devouring windsurfing magazines, nurturing an obsession: pushing the limits of what is possible. Three-time kitesurfing world champion, the first and only man to have kitesurfed around Cape Horn, founder of a leading French watersports brand.
This is his story.
The child who dreamed of sliding
Born in the Parisian suburbs, Bruno Sroka did not grow up by the water but on the asphalt. At the age of two, his father put him on a windsurfing board. That was the first spark. This feeling of gliding, this connection to the elements, became more than just a desire: a need.
As a teenager, he dreamed of the ocean through the windsurfing magazines he devoured. This imagination, fueled by glossy paper, was already a hallmark: what he couldn't touch, he built in his head.
As a PE teacher, this pedagogical grounding would mark him for life: to transmit, to make accessible what seemed reserved for an elite.
He practiced windsurfing, but never fully committed. Something was missing. A second turning point.
This turning point came in 1999, at the age of 23, when he met Manu Bertin, one of the inventors of kitesurfing. The discipline was in its early stages: a few dozen practitioners in France, with still rudimentary equipment. But for Bruno, it was a revelation. He gave up windsurfing. Without regret.
Thirteen years later, Bruno would smash the record for crossing the English Channel, then held by Manu Bertin. The student became the master, the most beautiful of handovers.
He divided his time between kitesurfing and preparing for the CAPES exam, which he would obtain a few years later. Competitions, training, studies. Nothing stopped him. He quickly became one of the best French athletes.
He distinguished himself at the French championships. He climbed the ranks, one by one. In 2004, he won his first major title: world vice-champion in waves.
The promise that he would not stop there was written that day.
A legendary track record: global domination
Between 2005 and 2013, Bruno Sroka dominated the world circuit without peer.
- Three-time Kitesurf World Champion: 2007, 2009, 2010, on the KPWT and PKRA circuits
- Three-time World Cup winner
- Four-time European Champion
- Three-time French Champion
The year 2009 will forever be etched in the annals of history: out of 14 international competitions, he won 12 and reached the podium 15 times. Even today, this remains one of the most impressive statistics in the history of the circuit.
At a time when the discipline was still seeking its sporting legitimacy, Bruno imposed his vision of a technical and demanding form of kitesurfing. A pioneer once again, in 2009 he began working with Italian designer Paolo Rista on the world's first kiterace boards. Inspired by windsurfing, these boards allowed for flat navigation, which revolutionized the discipline. For Bruno, material innovation did not come at the end of his career when he no longer knew what to do: it was already there, at the very top.
At 36, Bruno Sroka is one of the essential figures of his generation. Not just in France, but worldwide.
The Adventurer of Extreme Seas
But for Bruno, the competition was just one step. What he loves is the open sea and challenges that no one else dares to take on. His expeditions have become global benchmarks for endurance and commitment. They have etched his name into the legend of long-distance kitesurfing.
Cape Horn, a world first
In 2008, at the peak of his sporting career, he set himself a unique challenge: to cross Cape Horn by kitesurf. The mythical passage of great sailors, where waves form, and where the sea, quite simply, is unforgiving.
The window opened on April 9th. At six in the morning, Wolf, his skipper, woke him up: "Bruno, it's now or never." Wind over 40 knots, negative temperatures, water close to zero. He put on his wetsuit, equipped himself with a 7-meter sail, and plunged into the water.
For nearly 9 hours, he will navigate in extreme conditions — 80 km/h winds, 4-meter waves, choppy and icy seas. One hundred nautical miles — 186 kilometers — snatched from the most feared ocean on the planet. He will lose 4 kilograms. He won't sleep the following night, the adrenaline too strong, his mind stuck in the loop of waves and wind.
No one has made the crossing since. To this day, Bruno Sroka remains the only man in the world to have rounded Cape Horn by kitesurf. More than a record, it was the moment the athlete became an adventurer.
The Channel record
Four years after Cape Horn, Bruno Sroka is tackling another, closer myth: crossing the English Channel. On May 17, 2012, just weeks before the London Olympics, Bruno connected Brittany to Plymouth - 100 nautical miles, 186 kilometers - in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
