EP01 — The Fear, the Flow & the Front Flip (with Tom & Aleks Acherer + Rocco Sotomayor)
Three GWA World Cup riders. One conversation about what actually goes on inside.
In the very first episode of The Lineup, Michi sits down on the beach in Tarifa with twins Tom and Aleks Acherer (18, Duotone International) and Rocco Sotomayor (19) - three of the most in-form young wingfoilers in the world. No highlights reel. No surface stuff. They open up about what fear actually feels like when you commit to a new trick, the mental block Rocco carried for almost a year on the front flip, the day everyone in Gran Canaria started landing tricks no one thought were possible, and what really triggers the sessions where everything just works.
If you ride water - wing, kite, surf, foil, windsurf - and you've ever wondered why one day you flow and the next day nothing lands, this conversation is for you.
- CHAPTERS -
00:00 What "The Lineup" means
01:27 Who's in this episode
02:12 Welcome - and a rough start
04:17 Meet Rocco Sotomayor - Lake Garda → Tarifa
04:40 Meet Aleks Acherer - Duotone, twin brother of Tom
05:34 Tom's career highlights - Brazil podium with his brother
06:25 Aleks: winning Costa Brava with Rocco's wing
08:17 Rocco's GWA finals run
09:00 Why Lake Garda is no longer the training mecca
12:09 Hood River + Brazil - best spots for a goofy rider
13:11 The only un-injured one - gym vs. riding
16:08 Trying tricks the other side (and crashing)
19:11 How they invent and learn brand-new tricks
22:20 Inventing a trick mid-session - Aleks's Brazil win
23:55 Rocco's broken arm + the year-long front-flip mental block
27:25 "About time. Let's go." How you push past it
27:52 Aleks on coming back from injury
30:18 When the heat starts badly - what do you tell yourself?
33:32 Ending sessions on a good note (and the role of ego)
35:30 The flow session - when everything just works
38:30 Gran Canaria - the day everyone went pro
40:15 Sign-off
40:43 Michi's outro - Rocco's front-flip story, GWA Leucate 2026
- PULL QUOTES -
"In surfing, the lineup is where you wait for your wave. Here, the lineup is what you line up inside - your skills, your body, your mind." - Michi
"I wasted a year. Let's go." - Rocco, on finally sending the front flip
"My ego doesn't let me go off the water until I've landed it." - Tom
"The fear in your head is almost always bigger than the risk on the water." - Michi (outro)
- GUESTS -
Tomas (Tom) Acherer | Duotone International | GWA World Cup
IG: @aleks_and_tom.twins (shared account with twin brother Aleks)
Rider profile: https://riders.tricktionary.com/rider.html?id=tomas-acherer
Aleks Acherer | Duotone International, Quiksilver | GWA World Cup
IG: @aleks_and_tom.twins (shared account with twin brother Tom)
Rider profile: https://riders.tricktionary.com/rider.html?id=aleks-acherer
Rocco Sotomayor | Duotone International | GWA World Cup
IG: @rocco_sotomayor
Rider profile: https://riders.tricktionary.com/rider.html?id=rocco-sotomayor
- ABOUT THE LINEUP -
Flow and peak performance for water athletes.
Method: Skills + Body + Mind → Flow.
More: https://thelineup.tricktionary.com
Hosted by Michi Rossmeier - wingfoiler, coach, and founder of Tricktionary.
