PRO Profil - Linn Svendsen
Boys! Jeg kan lige så godt sige det med det samme: hun har en kæreste. Pro kitesurferen Jeremie Tronet. Så er det sagt, og vi kan komme videre til det faktuelle stof omkring vores serie af interviews med pro kitesurfere.
Vi har snakket med Linn om, hvordan det er at være pige i en ellers mandsdomineret sport. Hvordan man får den bedste start som pige kitesurfer, og om hvordan man undgår at få en ”bikini moment”.
Fakta:
Navn: Linn Svendsen
Alder: 28
Hjemby: Stavanger – Norge
Sponsors: Ocean Rodeo, Alpinestars, Blue Glue bikinis and Zeal optics
How many years have you been kitesurfing?
Almost 7 years.
You travel a lot – but what do you consider like home?
I live in my boardbag! I consider my hometown in Norway, Stavanger like home, but I also always feel like coming home when we arrive in Cumbuco, Brazil, I have spent a few months there every year the last 5 years. There are also several places in the Caribbean where I easily could live…But seriously, I feel at home everywhere as long as my boyfriend, Jeremie Tronet is there:) A typical year we spend a few weeks in Norway and France with family and the rest of the year we travel to beautiful windy beaches.
What are your plans for the winter… any exotic winter training plans…?
Right now I am in Cumbuco, Brazil where we will stay till Christmas, than we will go to Norway, and afterwards sailing in Tahiti. But we are quite impulsive, so the plans can change pretty fast if we get some new ideas.
Kitesurfing has developed in to being a lot more accessible in recent years… Any good advices on how to get in to kitesurfing – especially for girls…?
Just jump into it, take a course!
I think that many girls are afraid of the how they will look in the beginning… the first 10 times kitesurfing can be pretty hard for both boys and girls…. How was your first 10 times kitesurfing?
Luckily I was wearing a wetsuit:) A good advice for the start is to not do it in a bikini, even if it is really nice and warm, because you get dragged around a lot, and the bikini ends up everywhere but where it is supposed to be…
Is it hard to be a girl in a man-dominated sport? Or do you just enjoy the extra attention 😉 ?
It is actually very nice! Guys in general are brought up to be nice to girls, so they always end up helping us a lot, bringing back boards, sorting out tangled lines carrying stuff…Even pumping our kites once in a while.
Events, competitions and sponsors are an important part of the kite-industry and probably also a big part of your life. Is kitesurfing getting to commercial? Are we moving away from the sub-culture of being a kitesurfer? Good or bad…?
I think it is good. The growth in the popularity of kiting and competition on the marked is making better products and prices. I don’t really compete much, but I think competitions are important to push the level of our sport. I am not really into that sub-culture thing, I think kiting is for everybody.
What kind of kite event do you prefer…?
Fun relaxed events without too much pressure where everybody are enjoying themselves. But I don’t really go to so many events, the way I work to promote my sponsors is by taking pictures and filming together with my team mate and boyfriend, Jeremie Tronet. We take turns in front and behind the camera and have a lot of fun doing it. Jeremie is amazing with cameras, both video and photos, so I am learning a lot from him.
Motivation is at key factor being a top athlete… what do you do to keep motivated?
I am just trying to have fun!The moment I am not enjoying it anymore I will stop kiting, but hopefully that never happens! And of course Jeremie always give me a kick in the butt when I am demotivated.
Can you compare being a pro kitesurfer with being a rock star? Is the a short funny story you want to chare with us…?
Haha, no not at all, kiting is such a small sport:)
Any shout-outs..?
I just wanna thank my sponsors Ocean Rodeo, Alpinestars, Blue Glue bikinis and Zeal optics for giving me the opportunity to live this amazing lifestyle exploring the world.
Thank you so much for taking the time. We at riders.dk hope that you will have a fantastic winter – hopefully some place warm and windy.
Tekst & Interview: Ole Takai