Ludo Dulou
Paddleboard World Champion, lifeguard and bodysurfer, fan of big wave surfing and long crossings in canoes or via SUPs, Ludovic Dulou, from the Bay of Biscay, has embodied the archetype of the waterman for 20 years. Meet the white cap racer whose destiny is sculpted by the waves.
He is the ultimate waterman of the Aquitaine shores. Part dolphin, part man, whose skin, tanned by the ocean spray and the sun, is a parchment that recounts the joys and trials inflicted by water. Ludovic Dulou's sporting philosophy is that of adventure, in its purest form. It is through and for it he claims his autonomy, his taste for discovery, for the new, his need to explore and break the rules. “I want to paddle in the open sea on different supports and in different conditions, surf and bodysurf bigger waves, refine my technique, test my endurance and seaworthiness every day…” explains this genius jack-of-all-trades. In his forties, Ludo built his legendary destiny as a wave lord with power and method, all in versatility, without the slightest delusion or concession to fashion.
“I want to row in the open sea on different supports and in different conditions, surf and bodysurf bigger waves, refine my technique, test my endurance and seaworthiness every day…”
From his childhood in Grignols, in the Gironde region of France, punctuated by hunting and fishing outings, this grandson of market farmers has kept a visceral attachment to the culture of the Landes de Gascogne (Regional Nature Area). His passion for the land led him to become a Cellar Master in the Entre-Deux-Mers region. But it is on the surfing territory of the Landes and Gironde beaches that he patiently cultivated his stature as a waterman. A fantastic swimmer and water polo player, in the early 90s he became a lifeguard, and spent hours training to save lives, observing the tides changing moods, familiarizing himself with the patterns of the dangerous coastal waters of this Aquitaine shoreline riddled with sandbars. “Venturing out to swim in the waves has always been a rite of passage for teenagers on the Atlantic coast. This is how sea people teach younger generations to become autonomous in a survival situation, through gradual and playful immersion in the current and break zone. My first water sport love was bodysurfing, an activity directly descended from Hawaiian heritage. Everything that subsequently fueled my oceanic passions finds its source in this natural and instinctive communion with the waves, this minimalist and poetic glide that simultaneously requires endurance, humility and intuition.”
