For 32-year-old Belgian glider pilot Jeroen Jennen, 2025 has been a memorable year, with a trio of important accolades. A week before he won his third National Champion title, he was standing on the hallowed top step of the podium in the Standard Class at the FAI World Gliding Championships in Tábor, Czechia, a career highlight to which has been added the 2025 IGC Champion Pilot of the Year. 

This award was created by the FAI Gliding Commission (IGC) to recognise the top performance in FAI World Gliding Championships. Each Championship calendar year, the FAI World Champion with the highest score is named the IGC Champion Pilot of the Year and is also awarded the World Soaring Cup.

Since Jennen's first foray onto the competitive Gliding circuit in 2010, Jennen has won numerous local competitions, claimed the Belgian national title three times and featured among the top ten at FAI European and World Championship level. He says, “A highlight was my third place at the 2017 FAI European Gliding Championships in the Czech Republic—apparently, that country suits me well!” 

With a lifetime committed to Gliding, Jennen's years of dedicated practice and simulator training have evidently paid off in 2025. He kindly took some time out to share what the award means to him and why flying his own way has led to such a rewarding season:

How does it feel to be World Champion and IGC Champion Pilot of the Year?
Incredible, like a dream come true. After years of training together with my cousin Dennis, this World Championship was definitely a goal. Unfortunately, it was no longer as a team with Dennis, but thanks to all our team flying over the years I learned a huge amount.

Becoming IGC Pilot of the Year as well was something I didn't expect at all – a wonderful prize and a reward for a season where everything just seemed to fall into place. To make it even more special, just a week after the Worlds I also managed to win the Belgian Championship – a result I'm proud of, though I see it mainly as the icing on the cake of an already unforgettable season. Although nothing of this would've been possible without the support of family, my wife and my crew! 

How was the FAI World Gliding Championship in Tábor overall? There were some difficult meteorological conditions with smoke from Canadian wildfires, and you also had a last-minute problem to fix…
The Worlds in Tábor were perfectly organised, just like last year's Europeans. Thanks to flying the Europeans I had that extra preparation and knowledge, which helped me several times during the contest. The first few days there was indeed a weather phenomenon that I couldn't believe at first but fortunately I realised on day one that something was off. That allowed me to fly at a lower weight and reconnect with cloud base just after the last turnpoint. After a few days we were no longer affected and could enjoy really good soaring weather!

On the sixth contest day, I indeed had a problem with the LS8's water ballast system. Thanks to Wim Akkermans, who explained things over the phone from home, my loyal crew, and the extra help of Holger Back and Benno Beesten, we managed to fix it in time to fly with water. Luckily it was a day when the thermals developed late, so I ended up at the back of the grid anyway. After the first ten minutes the stress settled a bit. After the flight we disassembled and reassembled everything again to be sure it was perfectly sorted. 

You won by a significant margin, what helped you achieve that advantage?
I think mainly by sticking to my own way of flying. Together with Robin, the other Belgian pilot in Standard Class, we tried to just do what we had planned beforehand. The weather forecast from the local meteorological team and SkySight made planning relatively straightforward.

On the last day I gained some extra points by winning the day. Although the plan was to stick with the main group, that's not really my strongest suit, so I chose to do my own thing again. That gave me a better line out of the first sector and another few hundred points on number two. The rest was mostly consistent flying and occasionally some luck. The support of my relatively large ground crew should not be underestimated either – they made sure I had nothing else to worry about but flying. (And doing the dishes, of course!)

The pilots in the top 3 at Tábor all flew LS8s – have you flown this glider for a long time, and what made you choose it?
It's my uncle's glider, the one I first learned to fly in, and thanks to him I've been able to practice on it throughout the year. For several years now I've been able to benefit from this, and more recently I have shared it with Jef Kell, who joined us at last year's Europeans. Luckily, he lets me fly the big competitions with the LT! Since I have so many hours in this aircraft, I know it inside and out, which definitely gives me an edge compared to switching to another type.

You are also involved in Virtual Gliding competitions. Do you consider that it has contributed to your success, and what impact does this e-sport have on Gliding generally?
I'm quite convinced it has helped me in my development as a competition pilot. I've been flying Condor since the early days back in 2005, and since then it has evolved a lot, with Condor 3 now being even more realistic. This way I can keep flying and training during the winter when the weather outside is poor. In my view, it's a medium that can help with many aspects of gliding, from basic training to competition flying.

How did you begin Gliding?
My parents ran the restaurant at Keiheuvel airfield in Belgium until two years ago, so aviation was part of my upbringing from the very start. From an early age I was allowed to fly along with family and friends. Since almost my entire family is involved in gliding, it was only natural that I would take it up as well.

At 16 I officially started my training, and after just 13 launches I was cleared for solo. That same year I earned my license and Silver badge. Thanks to the advice from my uncle Eddy Huybreckx and my cousin Dennis, I was able to keep improving year after year – with this season being the ultimate result. 

Competitions and major achievements

• Participated in FAI Junior World Gliding Championships: Musbach, Germany (2011) and Leszno, Poland (2013)
• Belgian Gliding Champion: 2012, 2018, 2025
• Best place in FAI European Gliding Championships: 3rd in 2017
• Best place in FAI World Gliding Championships: 1st in 2025
• Other local and international contests won: Kempen, Kiewit, and Keiheuvel Cup, Hahnweide, Klippeneck, and Rotenburg.
• Charron Cup (Belgian WeGlide competition): winner several times
• Long-distance Gliding: Four 1000km flights in Belgium
   

Follow Jeroen Jennen

• Facebook
• Instagram
• IGC Ranking

Images courtesy of Jeroen Jennen