WAKESHOP.BE interview #2: Nicolas Leduc

Welcome to the WAKESHOP.BE interviews!

the WAKESHOP.BE interviews are here to get to know better your favourite riders. We have ask a few questions to some riders we like the most to share their insight with you!

There will regularly be new WAKESHOP.BE interviews posts like these with some of the biggest names on the scene so stay tuned!

Today we are meeting Nico Leduc !

Name: Nicolas Leduc Nationality: Canadian ( French Canadian ) Date of Birth: 11/20/1995 Sponsors: O'neill, Hyperlite, Radical Shop, Stax, Sunset Wakepark

Nico is a French Canadian wakepark rider known for his unique creativity and comes up with a lot of winch edits as well! He is pretty much on top of his games for the past few years and always is working on new ideas and project to do. Remember this name because you definitely will see more from him in the future!

Thanks Nico to answer our questions, we appreciate that a lot!

1.Tell us about yourself in a few words I'm someone that loves to live 110% and pursuit his passions every day.

2.How and when did you start wakeboarding? About 7-8 years ago when a friend brought me to a cable park, immediately fell in love with the sport

3.What is your favourite wakeboard location and why? La pointe's wake park, it's home for me & it's where I started.

4.We regularly see cool stuff coming from you, where are all these ideas coming from? a lot from watching other wakeboarders & boardsports in general.

5. A lot of wakeboarders look very similar on the water, but in Canada it feels like each rider find their own path and come up with an incredible unique style, what is you guys secret ? Winter! I feel like the off-season drives us crazy here. When you have only 4 months a year to ride comfortably, you want to go hard & ride as much as possible. + I feel like most of us use experience other boardsports as well which brings a lot into our style & view on the sport.

6. Do you have trouble to be understood when you speak French Canadian in Europe? All the time. I had to come up with a french accent since people were not able to understand me at all. We're used to listening to the French accent in movies & tv so for us, it's a bit easier to understand European french since we're used to it.

7. One project, trip, session that is on top of your list, which one is it and can you tell us about it? For me, every project is on top of my list. Whenever I get an idea to do something, I get crazy and focus on it till it's done.

8. What event are you the most excited about every season? I was really excited about Red Bull Wake2el, Fise & Plastic Playground. But with the current situation ( Coronavirus ), who knows if it's going to happen! fingers crossed!

9. We know you can snowboard pretty well, how does it affect your wakeboarding? I feel like before, snowboarding helped me with the basics in wakeboarding. nowadays, when I step on my snowboard, I realize that I'm able to do new tricks that I was only able to do on my wakeboard before.

10. How is it to be part of the Hyperlite family ? You guys seem to have a lot of fun together! It feels like a college sports team, we have that family vibe going on & I love it.

11. You have the Hyperlite Launchtray as a Pro model? Tell us about your board… Flexy in the tips, strong in the middle! that's the best way to describe the board.

12. Your favourite O’Neill wetsuit? I don't we're much rubber but when I do, a 2/3 shorty is my favorite!

13. What/Who do you really dislike in the sport? Haters, I feel like there's a lot of it in the sport since it's a small community. Live & let other people live.

14. How do you see wakeboarding in 5 years? Growing. We're seeing a huge amount of cableparks/2.0 system popping around the world. since it's eco-friendly sports & it's cheap, I can't see wakeboarding not growing in the next 5 years. pretty excited about that!

15. 3 riders that inspire you the most? Graeme Burress, Alex Graydon & Felix Gerorgi. 3 completely different riders which keeps on blowing my mind.

16. 3 personalities that inspire you the most That's a hard one. I usually look up to open-minded people who are passion-driven. That for me is the most important thing.

17. Who will be the Wakepark rider of the year in 2020 ? Too many riders are up for that! it's still early in the season to name someone.

Pick A, B or C

Wide stance/ Narrow Stance? Middle stance

Blonde or Brunette? Blonde

Tea or Coffee? Both

Water or whisky Water

Bum or boobs? Boobs

Breakfast or Dinner? Breaky

Day or Night? Day, I'm an early guy

Boat, winch or cable? Winch

Gin or Beer? beer

Rap or rock ? Rap

Meet or veggies? Veggies

Ice hockey or golf? Ice hockey

Tv or book ? Book

France or Belgium? I've never been to Belgium so I can't answer that. Heard they have a better beer!

Beer or Wine? Beer

Poutine or French fries? Poutine all the way

Sand or Snow? Snow

Salt water or Soft Water? Soft water.

Thanks so much Nico! We hope to see you soon on the water!

Videos where you can find Nicolas Leduc:

Flooded Hyper Reel 2019 Dirty Waters Lock Down

We hope you enjoy reading this and we are looking forward to share much more about the wakeboard world with you !

INTERVIEW #1: Victor Salmon

Stay tuned for Massi Piffaretti next week!

- the WAKESHOP.BE team -