Hello Titouan !
2013-2023 you’ve been on the pro circuit for 10 years, since your victory at the French championships in Canet. You are one of the most successful champions in the world, how does 2023 look?
So 2023 I can’t say too much for now. I am considering a professional retraining but for the moment I do not have all the answers yet but one thing is certain I will be less on the circuit in 2023.
At the same time I think I’m the one who participates in the most events on the calendar so I can do a little less it won’t be noticed too much haha! I have been competing in SUP for 10 years! It’s starting to do so I want to shape my 2023 season differently.
In short, a change but my paddle won’t be far.
The beginnings of SUP became “paddle”, the sport became a beach hobby for at least 90% of practitioners. The precursors of the beginnings left for other sports, in particular Wing Foil, there is no longer any paper magazine, the sponsors are deserting, we feel a certain breathlessness in the practice of “race”, right? How do you see the future?
I will be more optimistic and say that the practice is changing! I like SUP and va’a, I discover other sports, I do foil for example. But I still enjoy going on the water with my va’a or my sup! So in the end those who quit weren’t as passionate as others and there’s nothing wrong with that.
If I have to take the example of New Caledonia, there is this pool of practitioners who like to switch from one sport to another. I’m thinking of the Mountain Bike and/or WingFoil that exploded. And we find that in France.
I think we are on a social fact more than a sport that is running out of steam. But it is up to us practitioners and organizers to listen to practitioners in order to develop the sport. But if people don’t find themselves in the SUP Race, there’s no point in forcing them either haha.
You have to like training, have a taste for effort, be interested in the equipment, know the environment in which you evolve! There is such a wide variety of sports today that it is difficult for a small sport to attract as much as new or historic sports!
Let’s get back to the positive! The GlaGla Race will break a new attendance record, we are reaching 700 registrants 3 weeks before the event! How do you explain this success?
This is a great example of success, the practitioners may not be the same as in the first edition. It would be interesting to know if there are any who have been coming since you started and to ask them why they are still coming. No doubt they are buffs!
For my part, it turns out that I have been spending some time in the mountains for a few years because I like it and it matches very well with your vent. It was quite a gamble to organize something in the middle of winter and outside the competition season, but that’s also a good thing!
There are a lot of people, it’s well organized, good communication, it goes from the world champion to the cushy practitioner, and it’s unusual. That’s what attracts. Paris is unusual, your race is unusual, people want to have something to tell and to remember. And we all remember the GlaGla Race!
