2015 ICF World Championships Slalom
 
1
2
3
K1M
CZ J. PRSKAVEC
PL M. POLACZYK
US M. SMOLEN
K1W
CZ K. KUDEJOVA
DE R. FUNK
DE M. PFEIFER
C1M
GB D. FLORENCE
SI B. SAVSEK
GB R. WESTLEY
C1W
AU J. FOX
CZ K. HOSKOVA
ES N. VILARRUBLA
C2
DE ANTON/BENZIEN
FR PICCO/BISO
FR KLAUSS/PECHE

Freestyle

Face-to-face with Marlène Devillez, France’s freestyle phenomenum

canoe kayak freestyle marlene devillez interview european champion sportscene icf

Nick Harding | @nickhdg | Sportscene - K1W freestyle double European Champion (2010, 2012), 7-time French Champion and this year's winner at Sort International, 'Marlou' has a tête-à-tête with Sportscene.

Originally a slalom athlete, and with some success at that being double bronze medallist at the French Championships in 2005 and 2006, Marlène switched to freestyle in 2007.

Career Highlights:
2007: French Champion | 1st freestyle season
2008: French Champion | qualified for French national squad | 7th at World Cup
2009: French Champion | 25th at World Championship in Thun, Switzerland
2010: French Champion | European Champion in Lienz, Austria
2011: French Champion | 9th at World Championship in Plattling, Germany
2012: French Champion | European Champion in Lienz, Austria
2013: French Champion | Champion, Sort International

canoe kayak freestyle marlene devillez interview european champion sportscene icfFrom slalom to freestyle

Marlène comes from Besançon, in the Eastern French region Franche-Comté on the edge of the Jura Mountains – about 125km from the ICF headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland! She started to paddle when only 6 years old where born into a canoeing family; her father was President of her local club and her mother a coach, family river trips during school holidays allowed her to catch those first awe-inspiring play waves.

Inspired by Brigitte Guibal's silver in K1W at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Marlène quickly worked her way up through the French ranks, but then something didn't feel right, trying her hand at freestyle she became hooked on its camaraderie:

“The atmosphere [in slalom] was difficult, the competitors wouldn't speak to each other before the start and they just returned to their hotels to sleep in the evenings, there was no longer any conviviality like before. I tried a junior freestyle competition, on arriving I was straight away accepted, there was a sense of family and in one night I got to know everyone.

She then carried on doing both for a period yet after a further year of 'national slalom 1' she had to make a choice, so opted to focus on freestyle. This choice came at the expense of any Olympic slalom dream she may have had but she doesn't regret her decision, if anything the contrary; it has encouraged her to become the paddler she is today.

Now 25, Marlène still runs slalom from every now and then, in winter or in competitions not too far away from where she lives, “I do still win from time to time,” she chuckles.

Her favoured moves are loops (front loop Space Godzilla in particular) and aerial manoeuvres.

Training isn't easy as she works as a hydrogeology engineer in Paris, so has to put in lots of flatwater and gym time, although she does try to do something everyday. Winter she focuses on endurance and in summer playboating.

One of her favourite spots in France is La Malate, not one for the feint-hearted – wide, ripply at the wave's crest, freestylers are thrown about like whiplash-ragdolls as it rises high, head-height, from the River Doubs; many a standup surfer have also had a pop at it where it offers such a long ride. “It's a very large wave with 2 places where you can join it which works well in a hollow kayak, it doesn't always work but it's truly one of the largest waves in Europe and to surf that is incredible.”

canoe kayak freestyle marlene devillez interview european champion sportscene icf

Competition reflections

Marlène was really proud of her first European title in Lienz, Austria in 2010 – her whole entourage (her brother, her brother's girlfriend and her best friend) were there to support her for a whole week, looking after her, making her dinner, doing her dishes and coaching her as she didn't have one in France at the time! “It was superb to share it with them, it was a win for everybody.” She was proud to defend her title in 2012 but it was nothing on the first!

Marlène very recently won the Sort Open International Freestyle competition on the Noguera Pallaresa  with a solid 323 points overall, in the Heats she won Run 1 and 2 yet finished 3rd in number 3. Katya Kulkova (RUS) was 2nd with 203 points and Spain's Nuria Fontane Maso took the home 3rd with 180. You can watch Sportscene's video coverage of the women's final here: http://youtu.be/VW6sm170U1Q

canoe kayak freestyle marlene devillez interview european champion sportscene icfHere's what she had to say about the Sort final:
“It was hard work, very quick, I didn't do all the moves I wanted to, I could have done more on one flip. It was difficult to get yourself into the final 3, I'm happy I was able to finish above Katya, ranked 7th in the world, I was only 9th. I'm also pleased I didn't get stressed, as I normally do, with the interviews, the large cameras, the TV and the crowd so close who were there for the show.”

Marlène is impatiently waiting for the ICF World Freestyle Championship, Nantahala River, North Carolina, USA which is only days away now. 'The event is set to attract up to 300 of the world’s top freestyle athletes to compete on the new 2013 Wave which has been modified to create an optimal freestyle feature. (www.freestylekayaking2013.com

“I am ready, I would like to be in the United States now, but I can't because I'm working, I've been training for the last I'm ready, we, the top 10 in the world have about the same level and it's going to be hard to separate us.”

She sees one of her main rivals as the UK's Claire O'Hara, the current Freestyle and Squirt World Champion; “I'm happy as I've already beaten her before at the European Championships. I'm quite confident but it's not the same waves nor the same event, I'm not sure what's going to happen!”

Growth and hindrances

Freestyle is ever going in popularity and it's an exciting time to watch how the sport grows. Back in France Marlène is encouraging more youngsters to take up freestyle and more girls are trying it out. She is positive that the level of performance increases with each passing year:

“It's becoming more and more impressive, we are getting close to the boys who are stronger and more powerful than us but the boys too are getting better and better! I hope there will be more freestylers in France and nationally, maybe one day it will get into the Olympics but by then I will be too old!”

Her advice to beginners: “Don't be scared of going upside down, the best thing to learn how to roll straight away, after don't be afraid of waves... and I think you have to be a bit mad!”

However, there are still a few issues to be ironed out as Marlène points out.

“There are still some inequalities like in other countries freestylers are full-time professional athletes but in France we don't have the means to do so, money goes to slalom as we are not recognised as an official discipline. It's not always easy, we find a balance between work and our sport. It's a shame because we may not always have the same chances that others have on our side. In term of French freestyle, we are making progress, little by little but we don't have an infrastructure. It's been 5 years that I've camped and slept in a tent before important events, we don't have a coach or anyone to look after us. Nothing. To have someone extra to help us, we can perform better.”

On Sportscene...

Marlène met Director Rob when he interviewed her for the first time in English a few years ago (2010) at the Europeans in Lienz.

“I was terrible in English, Rob spoke in French to help me, it was an impossible conversation but we laughed! We spoke again two years later in Lienz and then again at Sort where we spoke a lot one evening. He is someone who is very accessible, putting himself in the place of the athletes, he listens to people, we're not afraid of talking to journalists like him.”

So, what did Rob have to say about her?

“Once in a while you come across an athlete who performs, is genuine and has true personality. I've known Marlene for several years and she is definitely one of them.”


Like Marlène's athlete page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/devillezmarlene