Denise De Haan Interview
Denise De Haan, Dutch boat and cable female wakeboarder, talks to Boardforce.net’s Nelly Mance about life back on the water after injury and female wakeboarding in the Netherlands.
Nelly Mance: If we talk about female wakeboarding, she is one of my favourite riders… After a hard knee injury she is finally back on the water, back in the competitions giving all female riders tips how to follow her trails in the water…
Hi Denise whatzup babe? Your new season is starting?
Denise de Haan: Finally.. I’ve been off the water due to the injuries, but now… finally back on the water! Enjoying more than ever.
Nelly: You had lots of dry trainings and now came time for the water tricks, are you back in a full form?
Denise: Yeap, it took me 2 months to get fit, but now, finally my ride starting to look like something
Nelly: And now you are in Singapore or Netherlands?
Denise: I’m stuck at Hip-Notics because of that wonderful cloud that Iceland donated to us!
Nelly: Stuck sounds bad? I think you got lucky to stay at wonderful place to get more training you didn’t count on?
Denise: Well, we were supposed to stay there for a week so I trained like that as well. Now I’m very tired so just took a 2 days break. Hopefully tomorrow we will fly back and then I can pick up training in the Netherlands again.
Nelly: What are the plans for the competitions this year, which comps are you are planning to hit? Will you focus more on boat or on cable wakeboarding?
Denise: After all these injuries (which happened behind the boat), I decided to stop competitive boat riding. Maybe I’ll compete in the Nationals. Just see how it goes. So yeah, mainly ill be riding cable comps to get back in the grooooveee.. So both WWA worlds and IWWF worlds are on the calendar and also the WPWS and CWWT tours…
Nelly: It will be busy and expensive season. You had some breaks with sponsors but you are now back with your old ones. Who is supporting you now?
Denise: Red Bull kept on supporting me through the rough times last year so I’m very grateful to them. I also decided to stick with O’Neill. I’ve been with them for so many years now and it just feels like we belong together and of course I’m still riding Hyperlite!
Nelly: What about “girly spirit”... If I want to follow one of the best female wakeboarders in the world… to follow your tracks on the water, what should I do, where I should come so you could learn me?
Denise: I’m willing to teach any girl that wants to ride with me. Just come to Lido-Almere. That’s my home cable and if you want to ride behind boat, you can come to Wakeboard School Loosdrecht. That’s where I coach as well..
Nelly: But you are also preparing some clinics, when, what, where?
Denise: At the end of April I give a clinic in Holland. 40 Girls are there waiting for me! Throughout the year ill be giving clinics for O’Neill and also RedBull
Nelly: Where to contact you to book for these clinics?
Denise: My website is currently under construction so you can contact me on my blog or just drop me an email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Nelly: What are next trick you are hoping to land?
Denise: Surprise surprise
Nelly: mmmm I cant wait to hear…
Denise: haha
Nelly: What is the message for all girls who are afraid to try wakeboarding, thinking that everybody will laugh to them if they dive at the starting dock?
Denise: Ride in the morning without too many spectators or take a boat lesson before you go ride cable.. it’s always good to have 1 on 1 coaching first so that you can get your foundation
Nelly: And your message for all girls who are transferring from intermediate to advanced, how to avoid injuries?
Denise: Do a warming-up before riding, don’t hit kickers or do big jumps if your muscles feel tired. Listen to your body!!! No point riding every day!
Nelly: What are your plans for the future?
Denise: I wanna stay involved in the sport in any way. I’ll ride as a professional wakeboarder as long as possible and after that I’ll continue coaching because I’d like help the sport to greater heights. I might go back to school to study physiotherapy. Just have to see how it goes!
Nelly: With your experience and physiotherapy you can do really a lot for the sport progress. Having good one is 50% of your recovery, the other 50% is your consistency in trainings.
Denise: I wanna help athletes on and off the water. Because of my injuries I know where injured athletes are going through, so I think that’s a big advantage.
Nelly: Thank you Denise for your nice interview, if you would like to point out something I forgot to ask please do…
Denise: I’d like to thank my parents, friends and sponsors Red Bull, O’Neill and Hyperlite for the support through the past 3 years. It’s been a bumpy ride, but found my way back to the water! My girlfriend was really big support for me! And of course I thank boardforce.net as well for this interview!
Nelly: Thanks Denise, it’s so great to know you! You are really good friend of this sport! Hope to see you soon
Don’t forget all WAW readers can get a 50Euros discount at Hip-NOtics Antalya, Turkey for the whole of 2010.
E-mail (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to get your discount code when booking.
Wednesday 28 April 2010 | Permalink
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