On All Fronts

Originally from Perros Guirec in northern Brittany, Alexis Deniel was a regular from a very young age on many national and international surf and longboard competitions before he turned his focus to SUP surf about ten years ago. His radical and powerful style and mental fortitude quickly propelled the charismatic Breton rider into the French vanguard of the sport. At the end of his 7th season on the APP Tour, he managed to secure a 7th overall ranking for 2018 which has only poured more fuel on the fire. We caught up with the two-time European champion to find out where it started, his thoughts on the APP Tour and where SUP surf is headed…

- Laurent Nevarez Unless Credited

Hello Alexis, you started very young and now have solid experience in a lot of disciplines, how did this all start?

I started bodyboarding around 8 or 9 years old at home in Perros Guirec, then quickly turned to surfing. My father Thierry has always been passionate about surfing and was president of the local club, Seven Island Surf Club. He gave me a lot of advice and always encouraged me. In 1995 at the age of 10, I had the chance to go to Hawaii with my family and discover surf in its historic cradle. After two weeks of sessions in Waikiki, I was totally infected by the virus and got in the water as often as possible in Brittany. Then I start to enter small competitions, building up the wins, small trophies started to get a little bigger…

When did you pick up SUP?

I started the SUP towards 2009 and was entering SUP events in parallel with longboard events. I took part in the first Stand UP World Tour in Anglet in 2010, and since then I have not stopped pouring my energy into it.

With the experience you have in different styles of waveriding, what do you like about SUP? What advantages do you see?

I have always ridden a shortboard but I love SUP in waves that have space to make big carves on the rail. It is also an excellent tool when the waves are small and closing out like at home in Perros, you take off sooner and develop more speed to make the section. North Brittany does not always catch the swell so the SUP is fun in small waves that are harder to exploit by prone surfing. The use of the paddle allows you to gain power on the manoeuvres, I find this aspect really interesting; we get to put big manoeuvres in ordinary waves. And you can of course cover a lot of ground and access remote reefs. Apart from the surf, it’s also fantastic for conditioning and fitness.