Talking with board sports enthusiasts
Surfing, longboarding and skateboarding: all of these trendy modern sports have a strong presence in Bordeaux.
Each of our interviewees spoke to us about their chosen “board sport”, in particular the philosophy attached to it.
Teva Bouchgua: making waves
At 20 years old, Teva Bouchgua already has more than 15 years of experience behind him. “I started surfing with my father when I was 4 and never stopped”, says the young man, who has always lived in Carcans-Océan. Now, he’s a pro, living from his passion, taking part in competitions across the world. “What I love most about surfing is that feeling of gliding, when you feel the wave unfurl under the board, or when you’re inside the wave”.
As a graduate from Lacanau Surf Club, Teva was part of the French team during the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in 2019. He is also the surfing ambassador for the Médoc Atlantique Tourist Office: a way for him to work on the development of his discipline. “I have noticed over the last 2 or 3 years that surfing has become really popular. It’s great. But, it’s important to remember that it’s a dangerous sport. The sea is stronger than we are. Surfing is also about learning to read the Ocean, its currents”. Teva Bouchgua knows only too well; a few years ago, during an accident in Hawaii, he lost consciousness underwater. Another surfer saw him and rescued him. Luckily. “Surfing is about balance, making perfect movements, it’s about feeling, and a very strong relationship with the ocean.”
In his eyes, the best surfing spots are, of course, between Carcans and Lacanau. Indeed, he took part in Lacanau Pro this summer: an international surfing competition that took place in Lacanau from 16th to 21st August.
To keep up to date with Teva Bouchgua, check out his Instagram: teva_bouchgua
Tifenn Chaminand's (a.k.a Aïz.t) steps
Tifenn Chaminand started skateboarding 2 years ago, at the end of the first lockdown. “I’d decided I wanted to try skateboarding and more precisely longboarding (longer than a classic skateboard, ed.) in early 2020. I bought a board the day that lockdown was decreed. I had the board but no wheels. I couldn’t do anything. So I painted my board.” The day lockdown ended, she bought some wheels and finally threw herself into it. “I immediately loved the feeling,” remembers the young woman. Swiftly, she got involved in longboard dancing: a discipline which mixes skateboarding and dancing. “I have a background in dancing, so creating movements, balancing and executing steps on my board almost came naturally to me.”
She lived in Paris back then and skated along the quays or at Le Trocadéro, but she struggled with the way skaters were treated there. In late 2021, she decided to move to Bordeaux, where her family already lived. “Here, I skate along the quays, on the Miroir d’eau in winter, in front of La Méca, etc. You really get the feeling that skating is part of the city.It’s tolerated here and there are lots of structures like the skate park on the quays or at Darwin. You get the impression the city authorities support this activity. Bordeaux really is the best city for skateboarding, despite the cobblestones!”
As a 27 year-old, Tifenn sincerely hopes that longboard dancing can establish itself: “For now, there’s no longboarding federation, and the dancing aspect is just getting started. I really want to help legitimise it.” To that end, she works at it every day, exploring cross steps and, “playing with the laws of physics”, all over the city.
To keep up to date with Tifenn Chaminand, check out her Instagram: aiz.t_longboard
Léo Valls: a skater's way of life
Bordeaux born and bred, Léo Valls has been a skater since he was 12 years old. “I got bored of classic team sports, often based around competition. It was the freedom granted by a skateboard that first attracted me. Skateboarding was a kind of school of life for me, allowing me to spend a lot of time outside, in the city, plus time to play around and be part of a big community. I then got the chance to travel all over the world through the people I met skateboarding, and became interested in video and architecture. From that moment on, I understood that my love for skating was eternal.
Today, now in his thirties and a professional skater, he sees skateboarding more as a culture than a sport. “For me, it’s a way of life, a way of seeing the world around us. It’s also a tool that allows you to develop your sense of style and creativity. Indeed, when when you’re a skater, you’re often interested in images, photography, video, design, urbanism…” Incidentally, he is working with the city’s authorities to make Bordeaux a real “bastion for skateboarding in Europe”. They call their approach “skate-urbanism”; it involves mediating and integrating skateboarding into certain public spaces, through the installation of “skatable” urban objects, public exhibitions and the re-classification of public spaces as skate-friendly. He feels lucky: “In Bordeaux, we’ve understood the skateboarding shouldn’t be confined to skateparks; its very essence is urban exploration. Nowadays, people come from far away to skate in Bordeaux.”
To keep up to date with Léo Valls, check out his Instagram: leovallsconnected
WHAT'S GOING ON?
The Chartrons skatepark is having a complete makeover. From its quayside location, when it reopens in late 2022, it’ll be one of the largest of its kind in France. It is to be designated an official Paris 2024 “Olympics Preparation Centre”.
