Amandine Sanchez interview
HUCK talks to the French champion surfer about motivation and her passion for hairdressing.
More like this...
French powerhouse Amandine Sanchez is rapidly proving to be an intimidating force within the world of female pro surfing. The 27-year-old from the Basque Country made quite an impression on the WQS tour last year by winning the French Championships in Lacanau and placing third overall in Europe. Quite an achievement when you consider that she spent the entire season struggling with a knee injury.
Amandine is now back to full strength and more motivated than ever, hoping to improve upon her world ranking and take home the French Championship title for a second consecutive year. If all goes to plan, Amandine could see her impressive list of sponsors that includes O’Neill, Gallaz, Vestal and Island Style extend ever further
HUCK caught up with the excitable and self-claimed 'international froggy' to talk about motivation, staying in shape and discovering new places.
You recently went to Bali. How was that experience?
I was in West Australia doing the WQS contest in Margaret River and Pauline Ado and I realised we were only a few hours away from Bali. So we started to think of going there. I have never been there before and I am always excited to discover new horizons. Also, life is so cheap there and the waves are awesome!
You won the French Championships last year in Lacanau. How did it feel to win in your home country? Are you hoping to repeat that success this year?
Oh yeah! I wish to win again! But yeah, it was really an achievement for me. When I won the title I cried like a baby! It was so intense and really important for me to finish the year on a good point, and to win in front of my friends was amazing. It’s hard to explain the feeling. We worked hard for everyday just to get a few intense minutes of victory and then life keeps going, like nothing happened. Now I have one year to enjoy my title and I am going to do my best to do the same next year. It just feels so good to win. I want to win more!
Has your knee fully recovered from last year?
Yes, totally. I trained every day with my coach, Xavier Huart. It was a hard time but I think it was the best thing to happen in my career. It made me realise how motivated I am and how much I love my job. It refreshed my surfing. When I started surfing again after my injury, I tried much harder at everything.
You visited Brazil last year. Do you have any interesting stories from that experience?
I love Brazil. The weather is amazing and the waves are like a skate park. Partying out there is crazy. The people are really nice and they are always smiling. It’s just hard to see kids from the Favelas coming to the beach and looking at you with their big, wide eyes. For them, we are living the dream and they’re right. We travel all over the world and surf some of the best waves. We just tried to share all that we have. We know they can’t afford to buy a surfboard or new surf shorts. Life is not easy for them at all. Most of them are not going to school.
What was it like growing up in Basque Country?
It was nice. We have a rich identity and sometimes I am proud to be a part of it. However, when freedom fighters set off explosives, I am not proud to be Basque. Basque Country is an amazing place for growing up. Nice weather, nice people and it’s just so gorgeous here. I started travelling when I was a kid. I feel lucky and, to be honest, I feel like an 'international froggy'! I am proud to be French but I was born to explore the planet.
Are you still a hairdresser in your free time or have you stopped to focus on surfing?
I have two passions, surfing and hairdressing. I love being a hairdresser. I am never going to stop doing that but now it is just for pleasure. Sometimes I get really silly and just do freestyle haircuts.
You finished 18th on the WQS last season, are you hoping to improve on that this year?
I finished 18th on the world ranking but I finished third in Europe. I have been working a lot on my surfing and my training. My coach helps me a lot with the physical side and Patrick Flores helps me with the technical part of surfing. The most important part is having a healthy lifestyle. It’s hard to focus all year and sometimes we need a break from contests, which is why I went to Bali and Reunion Island in January.
Are there any exercises you do, apart from surfing, to stay in shape?
I train five or six days a week. I do a lot of squats for abs and cardio. I also do a lot of muscular reinforcement exercises to prevent injury.
Finally, what are your goals for this year?
I want to qualify for the ASP Dream Tour. I am giving myself two years for that and I am obsessing about it!
Subscribe to HUCK for six issues
Only £21 (UK) / £44 (EU) / £59 (Rest of the World).
Amandine Sanchez interview (text) by David McNamara is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Add Your Comment...
Please note: Your comment may be held in moderation for approval by an administrator to prevent spamming. This usually doesn't take long, please be patient.