Q&A: Etienne Chappell

Escape Watersports would like to introduce you to Etienne Chappell.  2019 Young Welsh Sportsman of the Year!

Etienne is just 18 and destined to be the future of British canoe slalom. Eti starting kayaking at the age of 6 years old and got into slalom kayaking at the age of 9. Since then he has been completely in love with the sport, winning numerous junior welsh titles along the way. He competed internationally for Wales for the first time in 2015 and has more recently been competing for Team GB in the junior classes. He also takes part in Extreme Slalom events, and won a gold medal at the 2019 World Cup at Lee Valley.

We have been lucky enough to get inside the mind of the up and coming athlete and ask him some questions!

Going back to the start, what got you into kayaking?

I'd honestly say it was my parents that did it. I think they kayaked in the Scouts and I'm pretty certain that is how they met each other.
My oldest memory is me being in my boat, on the river with my parents in a canoe. Picking my little wooden paddles up, put it in front of me,
let it float past, occasionally drop it and annoy my parents. That's literally it; My parents got me into it and I've loved it ever since!

What is involved in an average training day?

I'd say my average training day consists of a maximum of four sessions a day, and that's on a very hard week. Most days it's normally just two sessions, but
there are regularly three session days in my week. Normally its paddle in the morning and gym in the afternoon, and maybe a run in between those.
The big thing at Lee Valley is recovering so you can hit your sessions really hard, to get the most out of them. Especially with the water training sessions, because you do not want to be doing the wrong things because you are too tired. They [Lee Valley] understand that it's important to rest!

Races can be intimidating, what goes through your mind before a race?

There are a lot of things, but I really try and distract myself from the race, because if I get too zoned-in, then I forget why I'm really here.
The real reason for me to race is to have fun and push my boundaries and try and do the best I can. Yeah we don't always win, I come away with some bad races, but I was lucky last year that a lot of my races were good. I came away with a lot of medals from the season and I honestly think that was the best racing year of my life!

One of my big things with Extreme Slalom Racing, is being intimidated on the start line. It's quite hard sitting there knowing that there are three other guys coming down, and you haven't got any control over what they are doing. You just have to hope that you can get out in front of them and get away from the pack so that everything else for you can be easy and relaxed.

Sometimes when you are sat on the start line with say Vavřinec Hradílek, you know he is an absolute beast, he's a ridiculously good kayaker. He's massive, the arms on the kid are insane. And sitting there next to, probably my biggest hero in canoeing; is the biggest shock I've had in a long time.

At such a young age you have accomplished so much but what has been your proudest moment?

I honestly think my proudest moment was winning the BBC Cymru Wales Young Sportsman of the Year 2019. I don't often get to race under my own flag and the fact that I have been recognised by my home nation was awesome. I am very proud to be Welsh, so it was a big achievement for me and I am going to strive to hopefully do it again some day.

Alongside that winning my medals this year was fantastic. Hard to pin just one of them as the best, but I'd say if I had to choose one of them' it would be my slalom bronze
at the Euro's [2019 European Junior Canoe Slalom Championships].

Maybe it doesn't sound as good as my gold at the World Cup for Extreme, or my gold in the team races, or my gold medal for Extreme at the World Championship. Honestly, the fact that I have been doing this for so long, and my parents and everyone that got me here have put in so many hours, and for me to go and get a bronze medal in the sport which I have done since I was about six, just feels insane. I think that's probably my favourite achievement in racing.

It has been an absolute honour and humbling chatting to you Etienne, and I'd like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to speak to us here at Escape Watersports, we wish you the very best in 2020!