The Global SUP Community

Interview with kayak surf HP world champion Valérie Bertrand from Canada / Norway.

This interview was originally produced for the Portuguese web site 'kayaksurf.net' and is published exclusively on Playak in english to make it available to a wider audience. The portuguese version of the interview is available here.

Name: Valérie Bertrand
Age: 28
Nationality: Canadian
Occupation: High school teacher, fitness and kiting instructor... in Norway!
Competition results in 2007:

• World Champs Surf Kayaking, Spain: 1st w-short
• World Champs Freestyle, Canada: 1st w-squirt
• Euro Cup, Sweden: 1st overall (freestyle + creek)
• Voss Extreme Sports Week, Norway: 2nd creek, 2nd rafting
• Invitational Colorado, USA: 4th overall (freestyle + creek)
• 24h mtn bike race Geilo, Norway: 2nd team

But also...

• Geilo Open Downhill Skiing Race, Norway: broke 4 vertebras plus sternum in a crash L
• Teva Mountain Games, USA: broke a vertebra in the neck L in the creek race
• This summer has definitely caused me a few years off the longevity scale...

Paddling experience:

• Have been having fun with everything that can be paddled since the age of 18...freestyle and creeking is what I do most and in between: squirt, slalom, downriver... and now surf kayaking!!!
• Canadian Surf Kayak Team since 2007
• Canadian Freestyle Team (squirt and K1) since 2000
• Canadian Rafting Team from 1998-2005

Website: http://www.valbertrand.com/

Sponsors: Murky Water, Pyranha, Galasport, Immersion Research, Sweet Protection.

INTERVIEW

World Champion! Did you ever think that this contest would go so well for you?
Not at all! Actually, I came with no expectations. Since I am very new to the sport, this was meant to be a learning experience for me, and it sure was!

You are from Canada but you also spent a lot of time in Norway... how come?
I met a cute Norwegian Viking 4 yrs ago and ever since, I've been spending at least 6 months per year there. Eventually with time, I built my own network with friends and work, and that has been working really well for me. I've got many awesome paddling options within a few hours of driving (Voss, Sjoa and Telemark), not to mention wicked kiting (Hardangervidda) and skiing spots (Geilo, Hemsedal).

When we see your paddling curriculum, the squirt is all over the place... when did you start this way of paddling?
I jumped in one for the first time at our Team Trials in 2000... and then was invited to compete at the Freestyle Worlds in 2001... and got 5th! I got hooked! Ever since, I`ve been cumulating a few gold medals in that boat.

Most of the freestyle and kayaksurf paddlers really don't understand squirt - explain us what it's all about...
Well it is weird! But it is an awesome way to train for freestyle as it requires balance, technique and finesse that are also key to freestyle. I believe it makes you a stronger paddler as it makes you train the same things a little differently. The boat is also made of fibre glass and has a much lower volume than a normal freestyle boat, which makes it easier to throw around. The sport has also changed a lot in the past years. What use to be only a mystery move competition (getting 'downtime') is now combined with acrobatic moves very similar to freestyle but done on a river seam. Besides, at the last Worlds, the crowd on shore for the squirt event was much more enthusiastic then during the K1 competition!

Besides squirt, you also have quite a bit of experience in race paddling. Tell us how about the Misahuali Extreme Race Ecuador 2003...
Race paddling... I don't know where to start! Actually, the Extreme Race in Ecuador was my very first creek race; 13km of technical paddling, one by one down a jungle river with nothing or no one in between the start and the end... I loved the idea! Creeking is about challenging yourself. The challenges on a creek just can't be equalled to anything else, especially when it comes to the consequences of not making a line or having to keep focus when your heart beat is close to 200bpm right before a large waterfall (...) That is what I love the most about it. Plus the fact that if anything happens, performance wise, there is only one person to blame: yourself, and no one else!

You are also a National Team Rafting member since 2000. Kayak or raft... which do you prefer?
Can't compare team vs individual sport! The feeling is completely different! Training with our national team in Canada when I spend a lot of time either in Norway or elsewhere kayaking just couldn't work together. Leaving the team 2 yrs ago was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make. I had started that team myself, from scratch, to become in only a few years one of the most competitive teams in the world. The team kept going after I left. Check them out! On my side well... I competed with a local men team in Voss this summer for fun, and who knows; maybe next year I`ll be in a raft again with the Norwegian girls J

How did you train for the World Kayaksurf Championships?
Well, I had been training hard for the Worlds in creeking in Austria, which was a week before the Surf Kayaking Worlds, but it got unfortunately cancelled because of too high water levels L ... I was on a good go then and highly motivated to do well at that one! What a bummer! I wish I had more training in a surf kayak before the surf event: but since it was a little bit of a last minute decision and a new boat had to be made in a short time, it became difficult. Thanks to Ed at Murky Water for not having slept too much because the little me had plans to travel to Spain! I got my boat one day before hopping on the flight. My only training in the boat and on ocean waves was the only 2 days prior to the start of the competition

What did you like most about the chamionships?
A World Championship is just one big excuse to bring together people from all over the world that like the same things. I see two sides of those events: the first one is you as an athlete who travels to compete, and the second is all the fantastic people you meet. Of course I will remember the moment they announced that I had won, but most of all, I will remember faces, and parties (thanks to Scotland and N-Ireland!), and the camaraderie on shore, and the good laughters at LaParra!

And which aspects should be reviewed next time?
Hard to say, really. The event was really well organised according to me. The Basque country was a perfect place to hold the event, not just for the waves, but for the easy logistics with hotel, food and pub. Even better the fact that it was off season and that our crowd didn`t mix with other tourists. Great that they had two judging areas and judges that are from both surfing and kayak surfing background. Maybe a little frustrating to not know in advance when we would be paddling again, otherwise, no complains!

Which gear did you use to win this World Champ title?
Kayak: Murky Water's Reaction (small version)
paddle; Galasport's Platinium Mini
helmet: Sweet Strutter
PFD: Galasport's slalom vest
Water wear: Immersion Research

Which class do you prefer, IC or HP?
High performance by far. Probably has to do with the fact that it is most similar to a normal freestyle kayak! But I haven't put away the idea of ordering a long boat for Portugal just yet!

In 2009 the World Championship will be held in Portugal for the first time. Satisfied with the decision?
Absolutely! Never been there to surf, but heard tones of great comments about the waves and also about the country. I can't wait to be there! I am positive that it will be an awesome time!

You also practiced ice canoeing... Tell us what that's all about and where you usually practice...
He he J Officially the most stupid sport you have ever heard of I promise! Basically: 5 people (1 to steer at the back, 4 to row) in a 29 foot long thick fibre glass canoe that weighs about 350pds and sinks very fast if it tips over. The sport is only practiced in Quebec city area, as part of an old tradition where people used the same big canoes to traverse the St-Lawrence river in summer and winter as their only mode of transportation between land and island. The St-Lawrence river is a many km large river linked to the sea, affected by the tide, the shit cold weather and freezing wind. In the winter, the St-Lawrence is full of giant blocks of ice, floating heavily in the current. The idea about the race is to cross the river, on water and ice, and come back.

When there is water, we use oars; when there is ice, we throw the oars in, get one leg in a cough on our side of the canoe and use the other leg to push the ice underneath. No one uses a life jacket, neither a helmet, all are dressed in light cross country clothing and shoes with heavy crampons, as you sweat like a pig! But the sport has no mercy; if you fall in, the water is well below zero (salt water) and the wind will freeze you for good; if the canoe tilts, it will sink, leaving you alone on the ice; if you quit in the middle of the game, the current will make you travel really fast out of reach... At 'Carnival' day in Quebec city, over 25 000 people gather along the quay to watch.

Your mentors in kayaksurf?
Devon Barker from USA who has been on the freestyle circuit with me for about 10 yrs and who, along with Ed and Mariola from Murky Water, was the main reason for me being there.

Kevin and Will : fellow teammates from western-Canada, who patiently explained me the very basics of surf kayaking, thought me that the waves come in regularly at intervals... and put up with me coming back from the pub way too late almost every single night!

Scottish Tom : telling me that I had to relearn how to carve on a wave and also the main reason for me being hangover every morning... Dam Scottish!

Best spots in Canada?
I am unfortunately not the best person to ask as to ocean waves, but I would say at least really great but cold on both east (Halifax) and west (Tofino) shore lines. As to river waves, Quebec is well known for the Lachine, Chambly and Ottawa, but has also Achouapmouchouane, Mistassibi, J-C (...)

Favorite paddling web sites?
http://www.kayaksurf.net/
https://www.playak.com/
http://www.teampyranha.com/
http://www.murkywaterkayak.com/

How did you find out about kayaksurf.net?
I found the site looking for info about surf kayaking before this event. Kayaksurf.net is the first one that appeared and had great pics, videos and interviews about paddlers from across the globe. Finally a site where there are infos from a varied group of people as supposed to reading about the same people, same places, over and over again...

Thanks a lot Val! See you in Portugal.

More photos:

Text - Luis Pedro Abreu
Photos - Bakio.com + Personal Archive of Valerie Bertrand