Rise & Glide, Episode 1: Mathieu Astier
TRANSCRIPTION:
Holly Pye: Welcome to Rise and Glide from the team behind the Paddle Logger app. My name's Holly Pye, and I'm joined by my co host Maddi LeBlanc, and we are super excited to share our first episode with you today.
Maddi Leblanc: We cannot wait to share with you, our very special guest, Mathieu from TotalSUP. What a funny, special, unique, character, eh, Holly? Like a really, really cool guy.
Holly Pye: Yeah, I, I love Mathieu. He's so supportive. I think I first met him in 2018 at the APP World Tour when they came to London. I could be wrong because that was a long time ago. My memory's not that good, but I'm pretty sure he was there, broadcasting the event. So for anyone who doesn't know, Mathieu is part of TotalSUP, who are the... I think the biggest international stand up paddle news website. They share all sorts of information about stand up paddle events, whether it's racing, surfing, anything going on in the stand up paddle world. They do broadcasts, live broadcasts of all of the races. So yeah, super cool guy. When did you first meet him Maddi?
Maddi Leblanc: I actually first met him a few months ago at an event in Tahiti that I found out kind of super last minute that he was actually going to be there. And be running the live the live stream for it on Facebook. We actually ended up just recording his episode as soon as we got back, which is really exciting because Tahiti was such a magnificent, wonderful. And very different, athletic event. And Mathieu really did a very good job at, at covering all of the athletes and running around the Island of, Wahine with us.
Holly Pye: So just for a bit of context for everyone listening, this episode was recorded a couple of months ago. We were pestering Mathieu before he went away. We didn't realise he was going to Tahiti and so we wanted to record with him, but then he went away for a little while. So yeah, this episode is a couple of months old, which is why there may be some older references in it.
Did, you, so you didn't know he was going to Tahiti Maddi?
Maddi Leblanc: I literally had no idea. I think it was so funny. Like, I remember, Dave, our producer from Paddle Logger had emailed us and said, Oh, guys, like our first guest for, for the podcast is going to be Mathieu. And I'm like, wow. Okay, that's cool. Like, I don't know who this is, but like, should be fun to talk to this guy.
And then the more I kind of followed the email chain, the more I realised, Oh my goodness, this is going to be, that guy, Mathieu, is the guy who's going to be in Tahiti with us, following us and running the live stream for the event. So it was cool. Cause when we were in Tahiti, he like wanted to record a few times and just.
Chat a little bit about who he is and what TotalSUP is and there's a few times where I got really excited, but then I, I said, yo, like, let's save this for the podcast because I don't have any of my recording gear with me. So, yeah.
Holly Pye: He was keen.
Maddi Leblanc: He was very keen.
Holly Pye: He was in Poland as well, wasn't he? Maddi and I, we were both there in Poland in September last year for the ICF World Championships and Mathieu did a great job. there was like a massive broadcast. He was super busy the entire time, live streaming the whole event. Everything was super professional with like loads of camera angles. It was like, it was really cool.
Did you see any of the footage?
Maddi Leblanc: Yeah, I definitely went back because I know a lot of athletes fell in that hole during the one distance race. So it was kind of neat to go back and, watch some of the feed, but yeah, Mathieu was there, was, was covering all of it and, and did a very, very good job.
Holly Pye: Yeah, it was great. Anyway, we are super excited to share this episode with you. It's coming right up, so we hope that you enjoy listening to this as much as we enjoyed recording it.
(Waves Crashing)
Maddi Leblanc: Mathieu is super passionate about TotalSUP, his business that he's created from the ground up, starting from a passion that he discovered in his mid thirties, and we are so stoked to have you here today! Mathieu, how are you today?
Mathieu Astier: Thank you very much, Maddie, for the introduction, for having me. It's a pleasure to, to be here on your, I think it's your first, recording, right? For Rise and Glide
Maddi Leblanc: That's correct, yes, you were our first guest and we couldn't think of someone better to have on the show as our kickoff for the Rise and Glide podcast. We're super stoked to have you here.
Mathieu Astier: Thank you a real honor.
Maddi Leblanc: Thank you so much for joining us. Honestly, you, like just meeting you in Tahiti and getting to spend some time with you, knowing you a bit more on a personal level.
I just love how your passion for the sport shines through in your day to day life. You make it kind of like your top priority, your number one thing. And, you totally wear your heart on your sleeve. You know, you're, you're passionate about the athletes. You're passionate about the sport and you're just passionate about sharing the stoke.
So we're super excited to chat with you today.
Mathieu Astier: So am I. And yeah, that's sums it up right. I think what you've just said stand up paddling is a a sport I discovered about 10 years ago and right away I'm, I decided to, to build a little blog, which has become a lot more than a blog now. It's, a, I would say it's a proper news portal dedicated to, to stand-up paddling in, in, in all its forms.
Although we, I spent a lot of time in the, in the SUP race world, of course, as a, as a commentator and, and also as a previous sub racer myself, that's, that's how I started with, with stand-up paddling. And I've built, I've built a whole lifestyle around this sport actually. So yes, you said business, it's not a word I used a lot since I've started TotalSUP.
But it's, it's pretty clear that now it's something that feeds the whole family. Thanks to a few business models I found around TotalSUP, and it works out pretty well. And yeah, it's changed my life in many, many ways for the better. And if I live close to the ocean now and close to lakes and, you know, if I think of paddling, every time I see a small stretch of water, it's thanks to stand-up paddling.
And it's also the reason why I'm here with you. So
Maddi Leblanc: Honestly, well, yeah, Holly and I were we're so honoured to have you here today and we figured while we have you It would be a great way to kind of allow listeners to know a little bit more about you And and who is Mathieu because I know I had the pleasure of spending some time with you in Tahiti, but most people just know you through TotalSUP. And kind of that side of the sport and how you like to promote it.
But really, I think we want to get to know you a little bit more as well on a personal level. And have kind of our community know, who is Mathieu? Where did you come from? Where did you grow up? Did you grow up playing sports? And if so, like what did you do? And What kind of led you down to the road of stand-up paddleboarding?
Mathieu Astier: Wow. Well, it's like sitting down with a shrink right, right now.
Maddi Leblanc: Tell me your life story. Go!
Mathieu Astier: Yeah. Okay. So I was born in the, in the, in a small village in the, in the South in Provence, in the Provence region, in the Southeast of France but in our North of Marseille, in the, in the beautiful area called Provence And I moved to a town called Avignon.
I'm sure listeners will know that probably from the song. Actually, there's a famous Avignon song, Sur le Pont d'Avignon. When I was five and I grew up there. So if I would say, where are you from? If I would answer the question, where are you from? I would probably say I'm from Avignon. And that’s cause that's where I spent my teenage years and where I spent I guess, 15, 20 years.
And where my parents are still based and it's a beautiful area. My parents live near the Mont Ventoux and my dad goes on the Mont Ventoux as a cyclist. So that's a good reference point, I guess, for the listeners. And yeah, I was always very pretty, dynamic, athletic, even I started really with sports, with judo.
Actually, I had one year of judo before I played four years of football from the age of 8 to 12. I was a fast runner. So, I started running track and I was a pretty good sprinter and hurdler. I qualified. Between the age of 12 to the age of 19 to pretty much every single winter and summer national competition, French national competition.
And unfortunately my best result in, in track was fourth. And I reached that a couple of times never on the podium, which was a bit of a shame, but yeah, I was a fast runner. I actually used that for beach racing when I was racing in my first years of stand-up paddling. So I always. I always had a bit of a lead over, over the competition, even the likes of Titouan Puyo and all, and Ludo Teulade, and so I remember a few races like that. So I was like first for like for 10 seconds, but then, you know, then it came down to paddling and it wasn't so good anymore. But yeah, so track, I ran track until the age of 19.
Then I discovered, I did an exchange year in, in Oklahoma when I was 18 and I played American football there. And I discovered American football, which is definitely a sport I'm, I'm pretty passionate about. I love American football and, and that led me to playing rugby when I came back, so during my university, I studied English at university and I played, during that time I played I played rugby and then I started working and that's when I pretty much stopped sports in clubs or in competition and did more running for, for myself and, you know, fooled around and I guess, 10 years after that, I discovered stand up paddling and I was already 34, 30, yeah, 34, I guess.
And that, yeah, I mean, my life took a different turn from, from then on.
Holly Pye: How did you discover stand-up paddling? What was it, on holiday or was it local to you?
Mathieu Astier: That's a good story too. Actually I'm pretty sure everyone has got a good story with how they started stand-up paddling.
Holly Pye: Yeah.
Mathieu Astier: We should probably run a show just on that, you know?
But basically I was traveling with my wife Nancy to Thailand 2012, something like that. And, that was my first trip there and I knew that I was going to meet in the plane, a friend of a friend. And his name is Mathieu Rosier. You probably know him Holly, or you probably know his name.
You probably have his signature, or you must have had his signature under one of your boards. He happened to be, back then, the head of design for Starboard SUP racing. So, he signed every single SUP Race board between, I guess, 2012 to 2019, I think that was the last year he actually, took part in Starboard as a member of Starboard. He moved on to doing e-bikes, his own e-bike brand after that. And basically he was traveling in between, he was living in Pattaya, where the, the ICF SUP worlds are actually happening next. When I met him on the plane we clicked right away. We became friends right away. We started watching a movie together on that plane to Thailand.
There was a great connection. So he said, you know, quite naturally, Hey, why don't you make a stop at my place? I'll introduce you to my wife who happens to be Chinese. And that's what we did three days after discovering Bangkok, we decided to meet him in Pattaya at his place.
We had a great time and and that's when he explained to me what exactly what his job was and he was living right next door in Pattaya to Svein Rasmussen's house and had access to all the boards, all the equipment, all the quiver, which is pretty huge at Svein Svein's house in Pattaya and basically picked a couple of boards. Off we went on the water, and that was my very, very first time on a stand up paddle, and I loved it.
It was pretty difficult. I think I've got a footage of that. I think my wife filmed me on that day. I was starting to lose my hair. Back then, now it's all gone. But more, I mean, equally as fun as stand-up paddling was the lifestyle that Mathieu Rosier and his Starboard crew reflected.
It was just you know laid back in, but at the same time, very, very professional and very international, internationally minded - a crew coming from Ireland, from France, from all over the world, really, at Starboard HQ, and you could also see these guys really having fun. And that mixed with the good vibes of Thailand, I don't know if you've been to Thailand, but it's really a place where you cannot not have fun. It’s just a great place. People are smiling. Everything's pretty cheap. Everything is easy. Food is absolutely amazing. You can have 10 massages a day if you want. And .yeah, it's sunny. So it's a, definitely a feel good destination.
And all of that, you know, sort of made myself, but also my wife. Be part of this vibe, you know, so I actually remember that a few months after going there, I think I was offering my services, which was. I mean, I've built a career on online marketing, international online marketing. So I, I would find a way this gave me ideas and I thought maybe if I write in Spain and maybe it'll take me to Thailand.
So I sort of wrote to him to actually volunteer for a position in marketing or whatever, this was definitely some sort of revelation. I really liked, the lifestyle and wanted to be part of that. And I mean, it didn't conclude to anything, but obviously the connection was made and I started, thanks to Mathieu, I had access to all these superstars, Conor Baxter was still there.
I remember Bart De Svart being there as well, Zane Schweizer and so on. And thanks to this encounter with Mathieu Rosier, I had access to, all these guys and it was pretty easy, from there for me to actually reach out to them, ask, ask a few questions, and I had so much to learn.
And I think that's the basis of TotalSUP. You'll notice that 9 articles out of 10 is actually an interview. And that's just because I've got so many questions, which are genuine questions that I ask myself. And I feel that if they interest me, they probably interest thousands of other readers who, can take TotalSUP as a way to formulate their questions with me in the middle basically.
And so the interview format was, has always been there. But and I remember the very first article was an interview of a Starboard rider back then, Roman Frejo from Spain. And I started this, I published this article in three languages, which was total chaos, so long.
It was so long for me to translate all this in three languages. And clearly that was not the right model. So, over the years, the story the outlook of TotalSUP changed, the interface and so on. But what we, what I've kept and I've managed to keep so far, which doesn't seem to bother so many people, it's the fact that it's a bilingual website with 50% of the articles in French for clearly a French mainly France, but also French speaking crowd, but also in English for, for an international crowd.
And because the main point of entrance is actually social media, Facebook and, or Instagram stories. They go straight to, the content that they want to read. And, in the end, I never had any feedback of any confusion from, you know, I was always wary of, you know. Is the guy who lives in Oklahoma precisely going to understand what's going on when he sees that the last three articles are actually in French?
And same thing for a French reader who sees something, you know, the five, the last five articles being in English. Is he actually going to be able to navigate on the site? Well, I mean, from something weak, I think that's something strong. I, I managed to be very strong in France with that with TotalSUP.
And obviously because I've got my eyes also on what's outside of France and very much so, I think I cater, that TotalSUP caters also for the international an international audience. And that seems to work well and the, the web statistics say, say that as well. Sorry, that was a long long answer.
Holly Pye: It's good to hear so much. Cause I was wondering, I was going to ask how you got into, well, how TotalSUP was formed, but you know, I kind of expected you to say that you, that you were into stand-up paddling and you like paddling, and then you decided to make like media and marketing your job out of it.
But it sounds like you were already in, marketing, and so from, right from the beginning, right from those early days, TotalSUP was like this idea and this platform. So that's really cool because it's changed a lot. I mean, we were, I noticed earlier that this year, so TotalSUP was formed in 2013, which makes 2023 a 10 year anniversary.
How has it changed since then? It seems to have grown, you now, have lots of people doing interviews. You've expanded on, on the kinds of articles. How has it changed so much over the last 10 years? What have you noticed?
Mathieu Astier: Yeah well, it, it has changed also on the fact that from a, from a work point of view, I also changed my situation.
So there's a company above TotalSUP, which is called Mediateo World. It's a company based in Spain where I spent 11 years of my life. Now I live in France, but I spent 11 years in Barcelona. And, Mediateo is a translation and multilingual content agency. TotalSUP was something I was really doing on the side and for the first four, five years, maybe three, four years, I was doing everything for free and for my own, out of my own passion. So I would travel to events. I would start not racing because I would, in the first years I was a SUP racer. I started with an inflatable starboard by the way. And then I had a rigid board, 12'6" back then that, that's one of the things that I've changed, but I'm sure that's the chapter we're going to talk about later.
Sorry, I'm losing, the, the plot a little,
Holly Pye: how, how TotalSUP has changed and how you've noticed the sport as well develop in the last, well, since you started, because it's changed a lot.
Mathieu Astier: Because I was so into it and because I could see that there's, could potentially start, you know, paying for lifestyle, which is exactly, it was a gradual move basically. It went from being a blog that I would do for free to starting to get little advantages like, you know, a plane ticket here a few goodies there, an invitation there. To actually deciding one year to stop saying yes to everyone which I would do beforeactually looking at how much I had spent over the last three, four years, maybe 20, 25 K. And I thought, okay, that's, that's a lot of money in the end. I should probably, do something a bit more clever with that. And, from the moment I decided to actually charge, I built a business model, which allowed me to, well, first of all, to get paid.
And because that was successful to start hiring people to do specific tasks. And pay them by the task. TotalSUP is a one-man show with a group of friends who are very passionate about stand-up paddling or else they wouldn't help me out. They're getting paid for the work, but it's not at a level yet where I can have, you know, full time employees and so on, which is a shame because we could do so much more if we had a lot more money.
But, you know, it's still a work in progress, you know, it's just a matter of finding the right partners. And the right incoming budgets to, grow potentially the team. But I've got my eyes on, on video making. With video making, I mean, we could, there's so much we could do on, through, on video making with video making. If we, if we had the money, like YouTube channels and, and regular programs and so on just like you’re launching with the podcast. But yeah, obviously it's also an online marketing job. It's not just journalism and communication. It's you have to, you have to exist online search engine optimization, social media.
Video optimization also for search engines and so on. It's yeah. So you can do it all. Newsletters, which I haven't really touched upon yet. This is a big project also to develop someday. But yeah, there's a, there's a team of four or five people who, who do either social media posting or articles.
And that seems to work well. And they also... from time to time benefit from other advantages, like an invitation to an event, a free registration to an event, which allows them to take part either as a viewer or a participant and to report on either social media or through an article at an event.
So, it works out pretty well, for everyone.
Holly Pye: Sounds like there's a lot that goes into it. A lot of time, a lot of passion and, it's great. You know, I think everyone in the SUP world has heard of TotalSUP and uses it every single day or sees it on their newsfeed every single day. And yeah, I think it would be very different without it.
So thank you for your passion and your efforts with it. It means a lot. Going back to when you were talking about your own racing and you started off with the inflatable and then you got a hard board. What, when, when were you racing? What kind of races were you doing? What was your, which ones did you enjoy the most?
Mathieu Astier: I got involved well, first of all, I joined a club called SUP Barcelona and which is run by a guy called Mark Foraster, Mark Foraster in Spanish. And that's actually a guy that I bump into quite a lot because he takes part in the ICF SUP World Championships. He was in Alicante last weekend. For the World SUP Festival in Santa Pola. And, and yeah, thanks to Matthieu Rosier and him andthey knew each other, obviously, as well. I got into stand-up paddling. So I started training with them. And, you know, one of the very good memories. I'm sure everyone remembers that, I first I wasn't from a water sport or gliding sport background, you know, whether it's skiing. I mean, I skied a little, but, you know, I'm not a snowboarder and I had never been on the ocean really for sports. So I remember actually scoring -before talking about competition.
I remember scoring my first wave at the age of 35. And I remember lifting my arms as if I scored a goal. So something that's really not the surf type thing to do. But, that feeling, you know, that the fact that, you, I mean, 35 is not young, you know, it's not, usually you, when you surf, you surf at a younger age.
So I was super happy to, to open a new chapter, you know, with this anyway, that's a side anecdote. But in terms of competition, in Barcelona, there's a, there's a a little circuit. Which still goes on now. It's pretty strong. It's the Catalonia circuit with every year, I guess, seven to eight races throughout Catalonia.
And so I started racing like that. I remember being in the inflatable category first and, and, you know, doing a few podiums, obviously, but the level was not, was not huge. And then later on actually getting better and battling, battling with the likes of. Miguel Roger, Iker, Barbarubio, some guys who are still on the circuit and really doing well.
I wouldn't be able to catch them now, but because I don't train that much, SUP is definitely my sport, but I, I don't, I don't train like someone who wants to do well, really, but I go on a 10k paddle pretty regularly. And also one of the, biggest challenge I took part in two ultra long distances.
One of them is called Ze race. This is a race that I totally recommend to all of you. It's in January. It's a 40 to 50k race depending on the course. And it's meant to be a downwind. Obviously, it's all down to the wind. The wind conditions on, on, on the day. But it's in a, it happens in a place called, Guadeloupe which is in the French Caribbean sea and When it's cold in Europe, it's it's obviously a great and in January and it's the last every year. It's the last Saturday of January. It's a great destination to build a full downwind holiday out of, you know, it's you can downwind along the coast, so it's pretty easy to go back and forth with your car. It's pretty safe because you're, you're close to the coast. I mean the further you are, it's probably 3-4k.
You've got some locals who are super friendly and who not only organize a great event, but they're also here to, to paddle with you and, and help you out. So it's called Ze Race with a Z. And, and at some point when, when the course was over 50k, it was called the, the long, the, well, the, the longest, the longest downwind race in the world.
And I think they still call it the the Caribbean M2O. It's, it's pretty small in terms of of, of number of participants because you have to go there. But it's definitely worth it, you know, it's definitely worth it. You can find a board to hire over there as well. So I totally recommend Ze Race.
Maddi Leblanc: Well, I remember Mathieu, right? We talked to Melvin, I believe, in Tahiti that competed. In the Waterman Tahiti tour, that's his hometown and he loves that race and he was really inviting all of us to come to that race as well. It seems quite like a phenomenal experience.
Mathieu Astier: Yeah, it is. It is. And Melvin Moret, yes, who's an all around waterman. And a very strong SUP racer, I think he won this race a couple of times on two different crafts. It's also a race open to OC1 paddlers, prone paddlers foilers, SUP foilers, and so on. And the other big challenge I took part in is the SUP 11 Cities tour. And which I'm ashamed to say, I took part in the five day race, but being invited, I was a bit lazy, I think.
And, and started training too late. I did really well for two days, but after two days I was dead. I think the first day was 48k and the second day was 47k, something like that. And I remember the last 3k of the, of day 2, my body just said no. And I finished that day, but I couldn't, I couldn't finish the whole race, but this is another great event for sure.
SUP 11 Cities tour, which has been running for a long time and everyone is super chuffed to do it. And it's a real big challenge. And yeah, so yeah, what else have I done? I don't know, not much. Since 2018, I've been more commentating than racing. And this year, I just took part in a 10k, actually a new format.
I really like that. It was a time trial format. I've never seen that before. Every minute you had a start. So obviously the idea is to try and get the guys in front of you and not to get taken over by the guys who are behind you. I thought that was pretty fun. I think that format is really good, just like in cycling.
And so, I mean, it just proves that you know, 15 years probably after the, the start of SUP racing, SUP racing is probably started probably in 2007, 2008. You can still invent new, new formats. And, and this one is pretty cool, to time trial.
Holly Pye: Yeah, it looks really fun. Yeah. Oh, you mentioned commentating.
That must be, I'm always amazed when you're at events, commentating because TotalSUP as a marketing, media outlet. is one thing. And then you personally commentating at events is something totally different. Although still under the TotalSUP umbrella, commentating must be a real art, a real skill to have, like, it doesn't sound easy to commentate and do it well.
And you always remember everything. You remember everyone's names, what they're good at, who they are, what they do. Yeah. How did you, did you fall quite easily into commentating the events as well, or, did that take practice?
Mathieu Astier: Well, first of all, I'd like to say, to acknowledge, how much work Chris Parker did for our sport as a commentator before I started.
And he was the inspiration for SUP race commentating. Now. From a young age, I've always been attracted by the lights, I guess. I wanted to be an actor. I, I trained as an actor actually. And I took part in the Avignon festival, the Edinburgh festival. And when I moved to the UK, actually that, that was, that was my main focus to try and become an actor before I decided to go for the money, but really when I, when I joined the, the ancestor of booking.com, it was a tiny startup then. And I changed from theatre to the international internet world, really the e-business world. And that was in 2002, something like that. So basically there was an unfinished thing for me with the art world. To complicate things, I love languages so I'm doing this in English, which is not an easy thing to do when you're, when it's not your native language.
I like to have that role as, some sort of middleman as well. And also because I love people, I would remember everybody's names. If there wasn't this love for humans in general, you know, and actually, if you look at TotalSUP, you could say it's, more human stories than actual technical information.
So we're trying to arrange that because obviously a lot of people are looking for very technical stuff on what's new and so on. And I think the rest of the team is doing that a lot better than me. I've got some people who are really gear geeks and I love them for that. I'm not so much a gear geek.
I love the great stories. Great human stories. I mean, your stories are amazing, Maddi and, and Holly. You should go on Rise and Glide...
Maddi Leblanc: Just Interview each other
Mathieu Astier: Yeah! All of this seems to prove pretty successful so far, and I think also the level of my performance as a commentator. It's still to be improved, but I think it's been really improving a lot since I've decided to do that a lot more seriously, I come a lot more prepared with a few more buzzwords and phrases and so on, I researched that a lot more, listened to more commentators.
What we did in Alicante this weekend. Okay. With Casper also maybe because he was new and I was telling him what to do, put me in a position where I was all of a sudden in a multi-cam environment, because when I'm on my own, I'm pretty confident with what I'm doing, but in the multi-cam environment there's a lot more pressure, you're listening to a director's order and there's a whole crew behind, around you and so on.
And the audience, because the stakes are higher, the audience is usually higher, bigger. Well, because of that position with Casper and also because we both wanted to do well the connection was pretty good. And I think the flow was pretty good. I think this weekend's show was probably one of my best.
I'm pretty proud of the last multi-cam ones, like the two ICF SUP worlds I did in Hungary and, and Poland. And one I think that worked really, really well is the Danish Euro in 2022 in Hvide Sande with another great co-host and, and, and him being actually very English. I think I also improved my language level.
So yeah - I love it. I want to carry on doing that. To be honest, sometimes I'm thinking, should I open that to other sports and should I change career and try and do sports journalism and go on TV, maybe with the Olympics.
If that's something I should pursue, I'm not saying I'm ready for it now, but you know, obviously, if you work for it, you, there's no reason why you don't get there, but it's one of the things with stand-up paddling and which is why I'm having so much fun is every time I do something, every time I go to an event, you know, I could just say, ah, no, I'm not, I'm not bothered, going there or so on.
But every time I go somewhere, I meet new people who open new doors. For 10 years, it's been like that, you know, every door has, has opened three, three or four new doors. So it seems to be going nonstop, you know, who would have thought I would have presented the ICF stand-up paddle Worlds and that people are actually waiting for me to be there next time because they're happy to have me in their ears.
Basically. So yeah, having a lot of fun and I want to do that more and more professionally.
Maddi Leblanc: Well, I think as Holly mentioned before, like your hard work is showing and everything that you do is really getting out into the, to the world of SUP and, and our community that I think is growing. I think it's like a slow, steady kind of grow, but, but it's happening.
And, you know, we, I think we're just so stoked to have you a part of it because we need people like you who are very enthusiastic, you're very passionate. And, you love learning, you love kind of looking through these new doors of opportunity and seeing what's available and how to help kind of, yeah, just keep growing the sport and growing the stoke.
And so I'm, I'm curious, actually, have you been invited to commentate at the ICF Worlds in Thailand this year?
Mathieu Astier: It's in discussion. I was kind of told that I would be the guy. It's not entirely sure that because they're having budget issues, I think, as we speak. Or they're trying to be conservative. So it's not a done thing, but we're working on it and seeing how that could happen. Fingers crossed. For me, this is where it all started 10 years ago. And it would just make sense. You know, right? 10 years after it started. In the country where it started, actually, the town where it started, it wouldn't make sense. Not just for me, but I think for the history of stand-up paddling for me not to be there, but yeah, I'm working with the ICF people to make sure that I'm there behind the mic with someone else. But yeah, it would make so much sense to me to be there.
So fingers crossed - cross your fingers for me!
Holly Pye: I remember from ICF, we were all there last year, the ICF world championships in Poland. And you said you got some backlash for laughing when especially in the long distance, there was like a sandbank. And when we were all finishing the race. We, everyone, jumped off their board because it got shallow and they started running and then it got deep again and everyone fell in.
And that was funny to watch. I mean, Maddi, you watch, I remember watching me, you sent me the videos afterwards of me finishing the race and I just fell flat on my face and it was hilarious. But it didn't go so well for everyone did it?
Mathieu Astier: Yeah. You know what? A couple of jokes would have been good, would have been okay, but I was sitting and I was very surprised. I'm sorry to bad mouth it, but my co-host Ross. He kept laughing and laughing and that was so communicative. And a few times I had to say, let's stop doing this and I don't think laughing so hard and so long was the right thing to do for sure. After a while, actually some of these falls were pretty concerning, and pretty hard.
I'm glad no one got properly hurt. I think I heard a story of someone who probably sprained an ankle or something like that.
Holly Pye: I think I heard that.
Mathieu Astier: But it was, I mean, first of all, what was that hole doing there in the middle of an ICF SUP world championship, you know, to start with I think they put in the end, they put some people to divert the crowd from that hole but yeah, I was the one calling the shots for, for stopping that hilarious laughter, because it wasn't the right thing to do - not for so long anyway. At the same time, a lot of people were laughing online with us and a couple of negative comments came out of it. I think they were absolutely right. But yeah, that, that was the situation back then.
By the way, the context also was. Very terrible, terrible conditions for a live stream. So we knew that the live stream was really bad. The drone couldn't fly. There was only one camera for the entire thing. So people would go for 5K out in the ocean, and we would only be seeing them at one buoy, the one that was closest to the beach, and with one camera. So we knew there was a failure.
I think overall, the week of events in Poland was, was pretty good. And, and that followed another, with another team, a very good Danish, EuroSUP. So overall I think we were okay despite these criticisms, which were pretty righteous.
Holly Pye: I think anyone would have done the same. Especially, I mean, like you say, with only one camera, it probably looked worse than it was because you were on the screen that much more.
Whereas if there's lots of different cameras, the drone's flying, there's different boats out, different points of view, you can always switch the... The stream onto them instead, but what, what are your favorite events to live stream for? Like there's the world championships, EuroSUP, Eurotour, APP, there's so many different events now.
Do you have people you particularly like working with or does it depend on the course and the athletes?
Mathieu Astier: Well, quality-wise and work-wise. I think the number one, I mean, in terms of work. EuroSUP Denmark was probably the, hardest because really I was there. We were, we were debriefing, briefing, debriefing.
We were doing these pre-recordings before the start of the day, maybe an hour before. So the whole thing meant that I was there from six to midnight, you know, 6:00 AM to midnight nonstop for, for, for seven days. And also this is where I commentated for the very first time - SUP surfing.
And I'm not a SUP surfer, so I had to really, you know, dive into this before the event to get prepared. And thanks to the help of my cohost who's a surfer himself you know, we, I think we did a pretty good job and actually, Hearing from Benoit Carpentier and, and other guys like surf referees were telling me I was doing a good job.
That was probably the best the best feedback, rewarding feedback, you know, to have that from the actual surfers. So I was very, very happy with that. Now in terms of fun and it's a tough one, but I would say that being in the U.S in Hood River and doing my, you know low budget gimbal plus phone and headset live stream. From a boat in, in Hood River after Chris Parker. That was in 2019. I was invited by team SIC to actually, be immersed with the team for a week and then do the livestream. First of all, being in Hood River, this is definitely one of the, the capitals of for down winding, one of the meccas of down winding.
So I definitely recommend it, and that's also the hometown of Fiona Wylde. That's why she's so good at down winding. But anyway, that place is great. And me being a little Frenchy, which is what I like to call myself among the Americans and have people enjoy what I'm saying in English with obviously foreign accent was, yeah, I would probably put that as number one.
I'd love to do it again, by the way, team Columbia River Gorge Paddle challenge. I'm here if you need me. Also not live streaming officially, being at the PPG. That was, that's Pacific Paddle Games. For people who are new to SUP racing, is the Superbowl or was the Superbowl of SUP racing attracting the best names, the biggest names in the world of SUP racing.
And there was that, ocean tech, technical race element, which made it an even bigger show. So me being there invited as a media is what was great. But I was never part of the of the official commentators. I took that seriously just when it stopped in 2018. So hopefully something like that will happen again.
I guess the equivalent of that now. Is the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca in Santa Pola. If you look at the riders who were there last weekend. It's just compelling. You know, it's the biggest names are there. So many world champions and European champions. And there I was as a commentator, so that was great.
Holly Pye: It was a shame that the World SUP Festival in Costa Blanca was the same weekend as the Carolina Cup, because I feel like the field was really split between Spain and North Carolina. I think it would have almost been like another world championship if everyone had been at the same event that weekend.
Mathieu Astier: Yeah, I didn't expect that. Obviously, when I came out of last year's World SUP Festival Costa Blanca, I claimed that this was, you know, the European Pacific Paddle Games, basically, and that everyone should be there. The thing is, the Carolina Cup kept its usual date. And for whatever reason, the World SUP Festival had to change his, not to collide with the Carolina Cup, that was just unfortunate.
But yeah, basically it was a good time for this event to take place then. I think overall it was quite balanced between the two and out of the blue, we offered at the last minute, the Carolina Cup organizer to, if he had some guy who wanted to, to try and improvise a live stream to go on the TotalSUP Facebook page.
So we were, on the same day, able to score on both events and offer real time news from from both events and that's one of, I would say that's one of the big successes already for 2023 to be able to to live stream Eurotour, an APP World Tour and the Carolina Cup, which, if I'm not mistaken, has got an ICF label this year.
I'm not entirely sure of that, but that's, yeah, that's, that's pretty big. I mean I speak to everyone. So working with all these circuits, which are kind of competitive between themselves, is a pretty good deed, I think.
Holly Pye: Especially to do them all on the same weekend.
Mathieu Astier: Yeah, exactly. There was a lot to watch and listen to this weekend.
Holly Pye: You see so many different athletes, men, women, all abilities, you know, right from the very top to people just getting into international competition. What do you think, are there any similarities between the athletes, what do you think makes the top athletes? Because you must see their behind-the-scenes, you know, race prep and their training as well as the actual competition. Whereas when people are just watching the live stream, they just see the race. So it's hard to know how those people prepare. Do you think there's, is there different things that set the top, top paddlers apart from the rest of the field, or is it just talent?
Mathieu Astier: Well, the first thing I would say is that the level has increased tremendously year on year, since the start of SUP racing. I'm just going to say this now, I'm a bit saddened to have missed the very, I think we are on our third chapter of the history of SUP racing. I think I missed the first one, the beginning to 2013 when I joined with some names, which I haven't ever seen myself on the water.
You know, Dave Kalama and names like that, which sounds like legends and they are legends. Even Kai Lenny, I saw him a couple of times, but you know, there was a time he was racing every weekend with Conor and so on. So anyway, it'd be interesting actually to, compare the times between what was done then and now.
But the first of all, right now, at an amateur level. Who hasn't got a coach, like a personal trainer, personal coach. I mean, I think that's the reason why I was a little bit upset with my, you know, I was relying on my just athletic abilities and, you know, I'm okay to do a 10k, but. There was so many, and I'm an amateur paddler, but so many amateur paddlers in front of me only a couple of months ago, and all these guys train super hard.
They all have training programs. They, they don't do just like me go for a for 10k paddle. They work on obviously, sprints and segmented and fractionated trainings also weightlifting and so on. So even at an amateur level, the level has increased a lot. Now to be super, super successful, obviously you have a different, I mean, different profiles, I've got different reasons, but you've, you've got the likes of Titouan Puyo who have got a huge history in va'a. It was, it's as if he was, he was born with a paddle. Va'a being a Polynesian outrigger canoeing. It's as if he was born with a paddle. So this type of thing comes very, very naturally for him.
Technique is long established and learning the right technique takes many years. I'm sure you would agree with me on that. Obviously then you've got to work hard. I mean I was talking to Bruno Hasulyo recently and he's a 2016 world champion trains two, three times a day. And his results recently haven't been that amazing. He was, and he was admitting to that and he was actually wondering, you know, is there, do I need to actually train more? That’s crazy. So it sounds like the level of training and the amount of training and also the strategical training as well, the whole science of training that is definitely something that has been evermore present in the past five years, and you can see the results of that for sure. And now actually a lot of those top international racers are actually becoming coaches themselves. Like Ludovic Teulade, like Michael Booth, Larry Cain with Paddle Monster, Seychelles, April and so on, Candice, and they all have their own program that they can share their knowledge and that usually works pretty well. The other thing I want to say about this is about three, four years ago, sprint racing. It was introduced and that was all of a sudden there was a third Discipline in SUP racing.
We used to have the typical 10 to 15k long distance the 3 to 5k technical race And that's it. And we would do one on the Saturday and the other on the Sunday, that would work. All of a sudden there are three disciplines and you start hearing people like Connor Baxter, who is getting tired, you can see that in the long distance. I remember his long distance in Japan in 2019, it was like in 15th position, like Conor Baxter in 15th position! And that year he would actually quit a race and would disappear for the weekend. And his next move would be to say, you know, I'm coming here for the sprints.
I'm coming here for the technical racing and will not do the long distance. And you will start hearing that. And that would be new music. Which is starting to become the norm. You have now April Zilg who says, I'm not going to do the long distance. I'm going to do sprints and technical racing.
So it comes to a point because we have three disciplines now in, in a traditional event, I'm not talking about ultra long distance , which is another fast growing segment of our sport. You've got three disciplines, which are very different. And if you compare that to track and field. It starts to look like, you know, a sprinter is not going to train like a long-distance runner. A hurdler is not going to train like a javelin thrower, you know? So yeah, you have to be specific and I think. I see now the most, successful paddlers making some choices like that. And I think that's part, that's a new thing to consider with our, with our sport.
Maddi Leblanc: Yeah, I agree with you a hundred percent. I know Holly and I were talking to a lot of other athletes as well. Last year at the ICF Worlds in Poland, and that truly did seem to be the topic of conversation. Athletes, really being specific with how they want to train and what race they want to do.
Cause you're a hundred percent right. If you do compare it to sports, like track and field and, and running, you're, you're not going to see someone who sprints 200 meters. Go out and do an 18, 20 kilometer run as well. It just doesn't happen. And yet when our sport, I think, began, that kind of was the narrative.
It was, you have to be good at everything to be a world champion. But now that's not necessarily the case. And I think it's going to be really cool to watch our sport develop and grow. And especially from your perspective too. The fact that you are at the forefront, you get to report the stats you get to talk to the athletes and coaches and you also get to commentate at events, I think it's gonna be really neat to see you know, the progression of TotalSUP from 10 years from now and maybe even 20, who knows?
But yeah, I think it's, it's very interesting to, to watch for sure.
Mathieu Astier: Yeah, absolutely. And I was saying that we are in our third chapter. I mean, that's what I consider my third chapter. Probably between 2013 until COVID, we probably had the second chapter. And why I call it the third chapter now is because for the past three, four years, you had a big push with the ultra long distance paddling which attracts a whole different crowd flat, more flat water oriented, less water sports and extreme sports oriented.
So more like. The marathon, triathlon trail running type of people, ICF being pretty successful with organizing world championships every year. And now some sort of world circuit that brings in new people from new countries. With a different type of training and different styles are also there.
I think that has an impact on the sport. So flat water racing is definitely growing. Partly, thanks to that, and also this third chapter is materialized for me by people who actually, I had a conversation with Dave Boehne CEO of of Infinity a few days ago, he is the sport, has been in the sport for, since the very beginning and people know who he is period, you know, he's the coolest dude in the, in, in the world and, and, and people know who he is.
And he was telling me, you know what, I go on the beach now and I meet all these new paddlers. And they you know, they actually make me introduce myself, and that's gonna be, and you are, you're Mister. Yeah. Dave Boehne the founder of of CEO of Infinity.
And that's new. You've got these new faces who actually learn a lot faster now. They, you know, we went through inflatable 29, 26 wide, 25 wide, 24 wide, 22 wide. These guys, after six months, they want to go on 23, 22 right away. And most of them succeed in doing so just because the boards are there and they're the ones that go faster.
So they wanna take the fast train and these guys don't necessarily have all the history. Just like I don't have that much history between 2008 and 2013. I wasn't there then. I need to catch up on that. Well, these guys, they not necessarily know who Tituoan Puyot is, and actually, that's a bit sad, but you know, if someone stops now, in two years’ time. It's, going to be a name just like, you know the names I mentioned earlier, names of the past and unfortunately, you know, and well, actually the history of the sport right now. So, yeah, I think we are opening a new chapter and I can see lots of new faces joining in.
And if there's definitely one thing that I want to shout today, stand-up paddling is really, really far from being dead. Like I hear sometimes. That's people who might see maybe in Hawaii, I was in Tahiti recently and yes, indeed, the sport is gone for because, because of COVID because there are not so many SUP racing events anymore.
But in other parts of the world. It's booming. It's literally booming and Just taking a different a different shape and to be honest I'm not totally sure that it's not gonna come back to all to those countries because it only requires you know a good race or the right prize money at the right time or the cool format and so on.
I mean, Molokai is coming back. M2O is going to be big this year. I'm pretty sure of that. So I heard, you know, because of SUP foiling and wing foiling, I was one of the few also who thought that maybe that was the end of it, but not at all, not at all. It's and TotalSUP wouldn't, wouldn't be alive like it is right now if, SUP was dying, quite, quite the opposite.
Holly Pye: I think it's been interesting to see, like you mentioned, you know, we're in the third chapter of SUP history and I, I agree with you. I think the same, it's interesting how over the pandemic, obviously those couple of years, some people seem to, some of the famous athletes seem to kind of drop off a little bit and maybe they stopped racing or they've toned everything down. And other, you know, there's young guns and people who have used that as an opportunity to really ramp up their training and come out of nowhere. And suddenly now they're doing really well, but, you know, we didn't know who they were that long ago. So I think that's made a big change too.
Mathieu Astier: Yeah. Yeah. And it doesn't mean that it's not, yeah, because the big names have dropped off doesn't mean that the ones who are now are, are less fast. Actually if you look at this weekend's result, it's quite interesting. You've got a sprint final with Fiona Wylde coming back from injury after a year and a half being out of competition winning, what a huge comeback, definitely a comeback for, for the ages incredible victory and dominance over the sprint competition.
But if you look at who's on the start line, that final. You see three young women who actually made a name for themselves while Fiona was away. Obviously, they're still super good because they reached the final and did really well. But you had the, I mean, I wouldn't say Fiona is old. But you've got the old names, the old famous names and the new ones in the same final.
And I mean, what better scenario than Fiona Wylde winning, but the other girls were Melanie Lafenetre. She won an ICF world championship title in technical racing last year. Caroline Kuntzel, vice world champion at the ISA. Plus European title in sprints, I think. And the other one was Juliette, Juliette Duhaime, who was, because she was so consistent on the APP World Tour, was second at the 2022 APP World Tour. And yeah, they were all in the final with the queen of sprints, right Fiona Wylde, not just the queen of downwind, but the queen of sprints as well, apparently.
Holly Pye: And the same in the Carolina cup. I like, I had my money on Duna Gordillo winning, because she did so well last year, you know, with Espe whilst, well, not just last year, the year before, I agree with you, you know, whilst Fiona's been recovering from her injury, the other girls have come alongside her, and so it's been cool to watch them now, now the world is more open again, so Duna Gordillo is from Spain and I thought that she would be doing the World SUP Festival in Alicante, but she went to Carolina Cup and she came third, I think in the distance race behind Kim Barnes and was it Candice?
Mathieu Astier: Candice, Candice Appleby.
Holly Pye: So they did really well.
Mathieu Astier: Yeah Kim Barnes, Kim Barnes is actually 46 years old. Ginnie Betts told me that a few days ago.She was so impressed with what a working mom was able to do. And I think she's totally right. To see the perform a huge, an extra double performance in this in the fact that she's got, you know a job to attend to every day plus kids and she did so well at the age of 46.
So yeah, back to what I was saying, we are at a period right now where the new faces, the young, younger 19 year old, Duna Gordillo who has won pretty much everything in the juniors and who's now a world champion, by the way, from, the last, ISA world championship in Puerto Rico in long-distance beating Esperanza Barreras.
Yeah, I, she manages to, to be the world champion and Candice Appleby multi time APP world champion won six or seven PPG. But yeah, just Candice also being in second place. That's a pretty, pretty good results as well. It's a shame. April Zilg wasn't, wasn't there April Zilg who's training for, M20.
Maddi Leblanc: Yeah, she's training for Molokai. Yeah. So she competed in the graveyard race, but she switched to the OC1 category this year.
Mathieu Astier: But that, that battle would, would've been great cause she won in SUP racing the Carolina Cup, two consecutive years. And yeah, that would have been great between those women, but yeah, that's going to happen soon, I'm sure either in the U.S or, or on the international scene. Yeah.
Holly Pye: So where can we expect to see you this year over the next few months and the next few weeks as well? Where, which events are you going to, what are you looking forward to the most?
Mathieu Astier: Yeah. Well, to stay true with the way TotalSUP runs, I'll be doing a mix of French events and international events.
So, I cover most of, the federal French events. So there are two of those in May and then I'll be at the at an ICF event, which is also popular. The stop number one of the SUP Alps trophy, which is a German, Austrian. Circuit, which is pretty popular for the people who live in those two countries and neighboring ones.
That's going to be cool because I've never been to those in Austria. I'll be at an ultra long distance. So that's, that's interesting with a live stream coverage. Actually, I'd be at an ultra long distance event in France, which is actually the French National championship of ultra long distances.
It's called the Tarn water race or TaWaRA in short as a nickname and that's on the 11th of June. Although it's a French national championship, it's also an event which is open to everyone. So paddlers in the UK and worldwide, if you're a natural long-distance paddler, this is definitely a really cool event, 80 kilometres and 50 of them in the gorge with small rapids not daunting ones.
And then there's a long 25k flat section to add, which is sometimes upwind. I didn't sell that last bit very well, it's a great race. And just for the landscape in the gorge, it's absolutely amazing. Then yeah, I'm going to a 10 hour event in France.
I'm waiting to hear from EuroSUP, but I'm meant to be, the EuroSUP. One of the EuroSUP commentators in Portugal, the country has been announced, but not the dates and that should be end of September, mid October, I don't know exactly when. I'm waiting to hear from ICF Thailand.
I'm waiting to hear from ISA. I've never done an ISA World Championship and that would be... That would be amazing to, to share the mic with the likes of Beau Hodge again, which I co hosted events with the APP World Tour, Dave Boehne, good friend of mine. And yeah, so, so it's not entirely set yet, but I've got plenty of things coming up, so you'll see and hear me more for sure.
Holly Pye: Exciting. Wow.
Mathieu Astier: Can I, can I pass a message though? Yeah. I've got, I've got that special bond with the UK and, and for some reason that hasn't really materialized itself with stand-up paddling. I lived six or seven years in the UK for my studies and for work. And I know that, the scene is pretty vibrant.
It's always been actually, it's not just now it's, it's always been lots of events lots of competitions, good level as well. And, youngsters coming up pretty strong. As well. I'd love to do an event in the UK. I did I did London one with the APP World Tour a couple of times actually.
But you know, a grassroots event like Head of the Dart or something like that would be, would be pretty amazing. Or Scotland. I love Scotland. So if someone wants to have me over, let me know.
Holly Pye: That would be really fun. Head of the Dart was the weekend just gone as well. So that was the same day as Carolina Cup and World Cup Festival Distance Race.
But I mean, yeah, that would be really cool to have you over in the UK and we can definitely pass the message on.
Mathieu Astier: Make it happen Holly.
Holly Pye: Yeah. There's the, I know last year in Falmouth, it's not really a grassroots event, but Paddle Logger helped with one of our qualifying events for team England.
So that was a really fun one because it's in Cornwall. It’s a beautiful location, technical racing. But yeah, there are some of the grassroots ones like, like Head of the Dart would be really fun as well. I'll definitely pass the message on and I'm sure they'll be listening to this. That would be really fun if we could get something lined up.
Mathieu Astier: Thank you very much, Holly.
Holly Pye: So thanks so much for coming on this afternoon, we've been really glad to have you, really good to hear all of your stories and find out more about the man behind TotalSUP. So yeah, I mean, have a great year, I'm sure we'll see you at all of the events. Is there anyone you'd like to mention or where can we find you online?
Mathieu Astier: Well, first of all, thank you very much for having me. It was really great. I had a lot of fun. I'm not used to talking about myself so much, so I hope I didn't. It wasn't too long. You can follow TotalSUP on TotalSUP.com. Our two main social media pages are Facebook and Instagram. So Facebook, it's actually, it's spelled TotalSUPOfficial, but I'm sure if you type in TotalSUP, you'll, you'll find us very easily, and Instagram, TotalSUP.
And yeah, and actually this year we started following wing foiling actually we did for a while, but most of the SUP players in the industry are also opening up, to foiling and wing foiling. So there's the, the twin brother or sister of a TotalSUP on, on all three platforms, website, facebook and Instagram and it's called TotalWing and I'm lucky to have someone in my team who's really good with wing foiling and really knows her stuff her name is Lori and she runs TotalWing on the side and yeah apart from the Advertising sales in the winter, I don't do much with it because she's running the show just like I'm doing with TotalSUP right now.
So yeah, there's more to it basically.
Holly Pye: Yeah, I saw that. It's awesome. And it's going to grow. Everything's growing.
Mathieu Astier: Fingers crossed.
Holly Pye: I think wing foiling is, wing foiling is maybe taking over from SUP as the fastest growing water sport. I think everyone is getting a taste of it.
Mathieu Astier: I agree.
Holly Pye: Awesome. Well, thanks for coming and chatting with us today, it's been really good to hear everything about you and we'll include links to you know, your social media and the website in the description below as well. So yeah, happy listening and thank you so much for coming on today.
Mathieu Astier: Thank you Holly, thank you Maddi, and see you on the water.
Holly Pye: See you on the water.
Maddi Leblanc: Thank you Mathieu.
(Waves Crashing)
Holly Pye: Thanks so much for tuning in and listening to our first episode of Rise and Glide. We really hope you enjoyed listening to it. Please subscribe and leave us a rating, we'd really appreciate that. Join us every Friday for more cool stories from our paddling community.
Maddi Leblanc: Rise and Glide is brought to you by the team behind Paddle Logger. Get more from your paddling with the Paddle Logger app. Find it on the Apple App Store today.
