“We are not adrenaline junkies”, says kayaker Nouria Newman

The media exercise, reverse side of the champions' medal.

Not necessarily the exercise in which Nouria Newman feels the most comfortable, in any case less than in her kayak.

But she manages all the same, especially since it is a question of evoking the film retracing her exploits, recently available on Red Bull TV.

With an end in apotheosis, marked by this female world record established on a fall of 104 feet (more than 30 meters).

Committed interview, in every sense of the word.

How would you describe this film?

What was the approach?

We tried to change the format because often in sport, it's a bit of the "heroes journey" side that stands out: we see you in your daily life, you grew up like that, your mom says something about you , that you were a nice child, and then you're out of the ordinary, you're going to do something crazy, you get into trouble, it's hard.

We wanted to get out of this too easy thing.

We tried to rack our brains.

The basic project was not to make such a long film, but rather on the 100-foot drop that we see at the end, right?

Because my athletic project with Red Bull was to pass the symbolic bar of 100 feet.

And to break the world record for the highest female fall.

In 1998, an American paddler, Shannon Caroll, descended a 78-foot drop for the first time.

At the time, it was the world record for the highest fall for men and women combined.

And above all it was a first descent, a fall that no one had done before her and which has not been repeated for more than 10 years.

Something a little crazy, what.

Completely.

And even if it's a fall that happens quite regularly today, it's still a good reference.

Later, I believe it was in 2005, another girl broke that height record which in itself was nothing crazy.

So the world record associated with something quite simple.

Almost banal in quotes?

Not trivial because it was still 25 meters, but a little too easy compared to the men's world record and the world record for short which is 54 or 56 meters, so 188 feet.

It bothered me that there was so much difference between the two.

I wanted to at least hit the 100 foot mark.

As for the film, we went from a project that only documented the 100-foot fall to a long format.

Because we didn't really know how to do it.

By digging a little we said to ourselves “ok you jump a fall, it is 30 meters long” but for ordinary mortals it is not very interesting.

So David (Arnaud, the director) dug deep to make good story telling and we managed to make a film around a waterfall, but which doesn't talk about kayaking.

There is a feminist affirmation that we find throughout the film.

With in particular this interesting passage on fear and the difference in requirements towards boys and girls from childhood.

It's a somewhat sociological subject covered on the surface in the film...

I started with a simple observation.

In my club, we were almost the only ones in France at the time to have an almost perfect mix.

The girls were the little ones who went there, and when we were at the races we were entitled to remarks like “in your club, the girls are not afraid”.

It always puzzled me a bit.

I was like “so what?

»

So what ?

It's true that in clubs, little girls are often withdrawn, they cling to the edge, they don't want to try new things.

While boys go more easily to cardboard or try things and suddenly they progress faster between 8 and 12 years old.

We at La Plagne didn't have that, and the girls were the leaders of the youth group.

The coach made no distinction between girls and boys.

It was: “come on, let's go, everyone is going.

"While at my previous club, I had a coach who didn't force me to go if I was scared.

The boys had no right to be afraid, because otherwise they were sissies, little guys...

Fear is partly socially constructed, especially for little girls.

The difference between girls and boys is not biological, it's just that if you step on a barrier and you're a girl, you'll be told: “be careful, you're going to fall”.

How do you deal with this fear and how much of a discipline is it?

Sometimes we have preconceived ideas about fear, like fear is bad.

We often see it as something negative and which will prevent us from performing when I think we have to use this fear.

I wouldn't do what I do if there wasn't a part of me that likes to be scared.

The adrenaline ?

No, it's ultra-reductive.

Adrenaline, it's time.

You have stress, you go, and you have adrenaline.

In my case, the adrenaline is after the rapid, when it's there, it's already over.

How does Nouria Newman enhance extreme kayaking with her videos?

https://t.co/2uHk2spQU0

— 20 Minutes (@20Minutes) April 1, 2021

Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent

By clicking on "

", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to the content of our partners

I ACCEPT

And to better remunerate 20 Minutes, do not hesitate to accept all cookies, even for one day only, via our "I accept for today" button in the banner below.

More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.

There is this general idea in the documentary to show via this fear that in extreme sports, you are not necessarily hotheads and that you do not rush into the pile in all unconsciousness...

We're not the adrenaline junkies or crazy people we often describe.

Again, these are socially constructed ideas or even from a marketing point of view.

Because extreme kayaking sells better than river kayaking.

It is true that it is extreme, but it has become catch-all words.

Everything becomes extreme, everything becomes expedition and adventure, it doesn't mean anything anymore.

My desire was to deconstruct this idea of ​​the stupid extreme sportsman who throws himself like that over jumps or heights.

On the contrary, it is ultra-calculated.

If I do this without thinking, frankly, the likelihood of me ending up in a wheelchair is high.

I've had people in the street see a Red Bull cap and quickly ask me what sport I play.

When I say “extreme kayaking” they look at you, stick their tongues out and do rock and roll signs and say “yeah”.

And then you say to yourself “wow, what do they take me for…”

There is also a lot of intimacy in the film, your confrontation with death, mourning, pain… It's very personal.

It's the hardest thing to deal with.

It is neither the director, nor the director, nor the broadcaster who will suffer the consequences.

When there are negative or even positive but ultra-intrusive comments, it will be for me.

Now I can have Jean-Michel, whom I have never met in my life, who will tell me about the death of one of my best friends.

People don't always have the ability to stay in their place and maintain distance.

They follow you on the networks and therefore have the impression that you are their friend, that they can talk to you about what they want and that you will be OK with that.

People don't make too much of a difference.

It's part of my job, but it's not my favorite part.

Do you plan to watch what is said about the film, about you?

It's easy to say, "no but I don't care, I don't watch the comments", but in fact, you are bound to come across it at some point and it will be hurtful.

Just watch and prepare for it.

Sometimes there are things that can be relevant in the review.

And then you always have the comment “but don't do that, it's too dangerous”.

And then suddenly you want to answer: “in fact, you just didn't understand the film”

.

Sport

Kayak: “Extreme is in her DNA”… How does Nouria Newman enhance her sport with her crazy videos?

• Interview

• Kayak

• Extreme sport

• Sport