After nine weeks of intensive winter training Down Under in Australia, Denis is leaner, fitter… and ready to return home to France, to Pau and to his first major competitive challenge of the season.

«Having worked really hard during our nine-week training camp at the Olympic Whitewater stadium in Penrith (outside Sydney), I’m happy to be returning home to France. Firstly, I can’t wait to link up with my new boat, which has arrived from Bratislava (Slovakia), and my new paddle. It always feels good to get a new boat. The old one, which dates from September 2009, has a lot of miles on the clock, has lost rigidity and, above all, it’s more than a little worse for wear. Of late, the foam rubber  padding on my foot braces has worn through so, at last, I’ll be able to stop sanding off the skin of my feet and ending up with them covered in blood!! Secondly, I’m keen to put my winter training to the test, to see how I shape up during the French national trials (April 3 and 4 in Pau).  Australia may be a paradise to live in, but I’m happy to be heading home… just as I’ll be happy to return here next winter. I’m even leaving my guitar behind: it will sit and wait patiently for me alongside the mixer I bought to make myself smoothies! Once I get back to Pau, I’ll take a week-long break… to get over the shock! It will take at least a week tot come to terms with the jet lag, the cold, the rain and to rediscover the joys of foie-gras, jurançon and good bread…!!! I worked really hard during what was a long training camp even if, at the end, I was beginning to feel like I was paddling in circles in the pool. During my nine Australian weeks I worked to achieve a balanced and healthy diet. I lost 5 kg (Today Denis is a trim 77.5 kg). That and stretching and relaxation sessions and sessions to loosen me up have made me more supple and have given me greater mobility. In a sense, I’ve also opened up to the world, to everything that I can use as an athlete. And yet, like a high school student revising for the baccalauréat, I’ve remained very focused on my subject. Apart from sailing, I’ve tried my hand at many different sports: snake board, surfing, tennis, jogging and pummelling a punch bag. Boxing requires similar skills to white water slalom: weaving, dynamic movements and rhythm. While boxers can last 12 rounds each lasting 1 minute 30 seconds, we’re dead after four! So there’s still a lot to work on!! As he’s been injured and as ‘Cheucheu’ (Denis’ coach Jean-Yves Cheutin) has returned to France, Fabien, over the past few days, has occasionally been watching over me from the edge of the pool!! Unlike a trainer whose comments on my shortcomings are technically pointy headed, Fabien’s comments are pretty basic which keeps things simple for me. And sometimes, he doesn’t pull his punches: he talks tough, hits you where it hurts, he gives you your money’s worth! To be frank, sometimes that’s just what I need. I’ve become his favourite ‘doughnut’: one minute I’m ‘a fat doughnut’ because of a lousy stop, the next I’m a ‘logistically challenged doughnut’! Like a big brother, he watches what I do and how I do it! He’s so keen for me to succeed…»