ARICA CULTURA 2022
Chile, Arica – May 2022
A MILESTONE IN MY CARREER
May 2022 is the start of the 2022 World Tour with the Arica Cultura, the first stage of the Bodyboard Tour. I arrive directly from Galdar, Gran Canaria via Madrid, in Arica, in the north of Chile, for the contest. I come to this mythical wave that I have been venerating for many years… It is an ideal wave for bodyboarding, a monster hard to tame that allows to score. The finest of global and local bodyboarding flocks for this first stage of the World Tour 2022, it’s great to be here. After two years of interruption of the World Tour (2020 and 2021), business is back on track and the riders have not been prayed for !
I START FROM THE BOTTOM
I’m part of the game, my goal is clear: I want to resume the World Tour gradually to try to get back in the Top 16 in 2022. I only participated in two stages in the last World Tour of 2019 – to dedicate myself to my family and my academy – then I came out of the Top 24. It means that I will have to go through the qualifications during the next events.
GAINING THE UPPER HAND FROM THE OUTSET
In the first rounds, I quietly score my opponents, winning each serie.
As I begin the 8th of the final, my strategy is simple : I want to score high and hard very early in the series to put pressure on the opponent and get ahead of the wave lines that sometimes delay to enter.
From the 1/4 finals, I will go up a notch, leaving my opponents combo practically during all the series. Against Matias Diaz (CHI) local rider capable of the best, I score a tube at 10 pts from the beginning. And he will respond with a 9.40. This is the magic of Arica: all riders can make good scores, because the level is high.
In the semi-final, against the underdog Maxime Castillo (FR), same score, I put a 10 pts in the first minutes. I coach him during the series, it’s important to encourage him to choose the best waves.
A MYTHICAL FINAL
In the final against Tristan Roberts (ZAF), I reissue the 10-pts tube at the very beginning, then very quickly a 9-pts to continue with another 10-pts. I feel that Tristan is no longer in the game. I also encourage him. It is important that he scores good waves. He has to fight to the end. He is a gifted rider, he must give the best. At the end of the time, I raise my arms to the sky. I am in shock.
Joy, emotion, fatigue but above all, pleasure.
I enjoy surfing these magic tubes, of making aerial inverts, of paying tribute to this wave.
I love feeling the fusion with the audience on the shore.
I appreciate climbing the technical cursor to surf at my best level because my opponents push me, because the level here is amazing.
When PLC and Yann Salaün (a French rider too) hold me up to the official stand, I feel moved and inspired, I have so much to say !
MY MESSAGES ON THE PODIUM
ABOUT MY VICTORY
» The riders who come to Arica all want to win. My first win here was in 2014, it’s been a long time. And yet, I came back every year, I have been on podiums.
I kept training, fighting, dreaming about that moment.
There are so many good bodyboarders on this wave, the path is difficult to get back on this podium, I did not give up and today I am there again !
Never give up, work and keep your aim.
I am proud and moved because it was a tough and beautiful fight with excelllent riders. »
FOR YOUNG GENERATIONS
» The dream of a bodyboarder is not to be a professional in this sport.
First, it is to have the bodyboard always present in your life, with you and in you, to inspire you an healthy life, travel, meet different people and cultures on different oceans, learn other languages.
Bodyboarding is a beautiful sport that has been living in the shadow of surfing for so many years but that’s the way it is. We, bodyboards, have a spirit, a mentality.
We live in an atmosphere far superior to that of a simple lucrative sport.
Connect to the ocean the way you want, because the ocean is life.
And if you connect with the bodyboard, you will live an unique and unforgettable experience.
I am so proud to be a bodyboarder and to share this with you !«
FOR THE FUTURE
« I just feel so thanksfull for what the universe has planned for me today and super gratefull for all the support I received during this event.
Definitely, it is a highlight in my competitive carrer and one of the best performance in the History of bodyboarding competition.
A huge congrats to all the competitors for putting the show during this contest.
The professional bodyboard Tour has now a new entity with the IBCWORLDTOUR.
So let’s work all together to push bodyboarding where it deserves to be ! »
