Moore claimed his title at the new urban wellness community ARC in London
The UK’s third Aufguss Championships have taken place at ARC in London’s Canary Wharf.
The competition took over the new urban wellness community’s state-of-the-art 65-person sauna and Brass Monkey cold plunge lounge.
Zak Moore of Galgorm Resort in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, was crowned as the UK winner.
In the team event, Antonia Longrigg and Kyle Buttnerr, both freelance aufguss masters, were victorious.
A growing movement in the UK, aufguss is a multi-sensory sauna ritual where a sauna master works with water and a towel to circulate heat.
A practise initially derived from native American sauna rituals, aufguss was first introduced in spas in Germany. It is now widely recognised as a leading wellness practise across Europe.
There are two types of aufguss – performance and wellbeing. The championships focus on performance aufguss, combining the key elements of heat, essential oils, lighting and music.
The 2025 UK Aufguss Championships saw a spectacle of sauna theatre, performed by 12 competing participants against a backdrop of skyscrapers.
Run by Aufguss UK and the British Sauna Society, the sold-out competition saw contestants competing for both a UK win and the chance to compete at the Aufguss WM finals in September.
The finals will take place at Aquardens in Verona, Italy. Runners up will go to the playoffs in Satama in Berlin, Germany.
Show Aufguss is judged by four jury who are seated in the crowd.
The judges assess the aufguss masters on a range of categories including increase and distribution of heat, waving techniques, fragrance usage, atmosphere and feeling, and overall impression.
The jury comprised of Martijn Vanhoorelbeke of Belgium, Christina Boring of Denmark, Heonsok Kim of Japan and Lay Pang Ong of Denmark.
Zak Moore’s winning performance told the tale of a Dublin pub owner who had fallen on hard times, until a mischievous Leprechaun appears and lavishes him with gold. He was commended for his mastery of classic aufguss techniques.
Second place was awarded to Chandler Fox of Alpamare in Scarborough and third place went to Charlie Bannister from Hoar Cross Hall in Staffordshire.
European Spa has long supported the growing Aufguss movement as it transitions from Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the Nordic countries to UK spas.
To read about the rise of sweat culture in the European Spa Platinum Resource, click below.
"The success and growth of the UK Aufguss Championships has been nothing short of incredible. We have seen a surge in the talent of the Sauna Masters and a growing community of sauna enthusiasts embracing aufguss with passion and enthusiasm. The response to the event was overwhelming proving the UK is ready to take its place on the global sauna stage."
Deborah Carr
Aufguss UKIn the team event, Antonia Longrigg and Kyle Buttnerr portrayed a royal meeting between Princess Diana and Freddie Mercury, with a rock soundtrack.
Second place went to Stephanie Gibb of Beach Box in Brighton and Dan Lawson of Nomadic, which has sites in Brighton and Hove.
Ticket holders to all performances were invited to participate in research from Dr Martha Newson of the University of Greenwich and University of Oxford, a cognitive anthropologist and expert in the power of community and ritual.
This research, in partnership with the British Sauna Society, will provide data that could help spa owners to quantify the benefits of their thermal facilities.
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Read our article on the rise of sweat culture in the latest European Spa Platinum Resource
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