Paris (AFP)

"It was a breath of fresh air all at once!": In Tahiti, Jérémy Florès returned to surfing after a very long wait, thanks to the reduction in containment measures on the South Pacific side, which allowed surfers to reconnect with their vital element.

"It was really great! Just going back to the ocean. It is very rare the times that I have been out of the water for so long. Being in Tahiti for 48 days and not surfing when in addition there were super waves and forecasts of madness during this confinement, it was hard ", explains Jérémy Florès, who has lived in Tahiti for three years.

The pro surfer, 10th in the world ranking, tells AFP about his first post-containment swim as he drives into the mythical wave of Teahupoo for another surf session. It is 5.30 a.m. on the Polynesian island.

"There is a big swell here in Tahiti, there will surely be big waves, that's why I get up early, just to catch waves before everyone arrives", argues the champion of 32 years old, who delights without haste.

Returning to the water has been possible in Tahiti since April 29, a day that Florès preferred to spend with her 2-year-old daughter in the ocean, before finally resuming her board the next day.

- Lots of surfers in the water -

"Ten years back, I would have gone crazy. Quite simply not being able to surf. But with maturity, I was not starving either. Just going back to the sea, sitting on the board, just that .... This is what I really lacked, access to the sea, "he says.

Double ISA world champion (2010, 2004), the Polynesian Hari Teriinatoofa was on his side "in no hurry to go to the water".

"It may be psychological, internally there is still fear," says Hari Teriinatoofa, who however did not wait more than 24 hours.

"There were already a lot of surfers in the water, all those who used to go there very early. In the water, that does not argue much, we are still quite far one of the The wave comes and we surf, we don't stagnate, "he says. "We are happy to be outside but it is not forgotten. There is a" but ".

The surfer, also a coach for the French team, did not experience the euphoria of the first day, the sensations were not there in the water. But he quickly scheduled a second session.

"The sea has not changed, it is there and I think she is happy to see us again!" Jokes the Tahitian, who no longer "slaps" the wind to other surfers. All is satisfied with a "check" with the wrist.

- "Rusty!" -

Some 4,000 m kilometers away, Pauline Ado is having a blast. The Frenchwoman, who left for New Zealand at the beginning of March for an international competition, chose to stay there because of the less strict confinement measures than in France.

And since April 28, the date on which containment was eased - just like in Australia where the legendary spot of Bondi Beach is again invaded by surfers - she surfs every day after having "watched the sea with ants in the feet ".

Its very first session lasted two hours. And how difficult it was!

"The mechanism was a bit rusty!" Remembers Pauline Ado. "In surfing, we need to touch the water, we need these gliding sensations to find our level and when we spend a lot of time out of the water, we lose a little of this finesse of sensation".

The pro surfer, temporarily installed in Oakura near New Plymouth (south west of the North Island), will not return home to Anglet until access to the ocean is possible, fixed for June 2 (reopening of the beaches) .

But the French Surf Federation has called for "a transitional solution" to access the ocean as part of an individual sporting practice, starting on May 11.

© 2020 AFP