Water skiing since the age of three and champion since ten; Manon Costard has been living the water skier’s lifestyle for 20 years. Traveling around the world, she has been discovering new places, meeting new people from different countries, lifestyles, and cultures on a daily basis.
Manon Costard won her first European Championship title at 10 years old competing in the category of under 14 years old. Since then she won 23 gold medals from European Championships, 2 gold medals from World Championships, 1 Olympic medal (Mediterranean Games 2013), and has twice been awarded the Collegiate Athlete of the year.
Women Fitness President talks to the World Champion about her dreams, fitness & lots more!
Namita Nayyar:
Born in the south of France, water skiing since age of three and champion since ten; you have been living the water skier’s lifestyle for more than 20 years now. What attracted you towards skiing as a sport, if you were to sum up in a few words?
Manon Costard:
My parents were recreational skiers, they put me on skis when I was only three years old and I absolutely loved it. I actually came across a video of my very first time on skis and you can clearly tell I fell in love with the sport at this exact moment.
To sum it up in a few words: family, water, speed and fun were the first things that attracted me to water skiing.
Full interview is continued on next page
This interview is exclusive and taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2019 Women Fitness
Namita Nayyar:
Having won 25 gold medals from European Championships, 2 gold medals from Jr World Championships and 1 Olympic medal (Mediterranean Games 2013). Were your eyes always set on this goal?
Manon Costard:
I actually just won the biggest title of my career this past August: slalom World Champion.
My goals over the years have always been to improve and push myself towards better technique, being more consistent and in control of my performances. Being focused on what I can control has always been a key to my skiing results. In water skiing, you cannot control the scores your competitor will do, you can only control what you will do. During tournaments, I therefore focus on doing the very best I can do instead of focusing on beating competitors or trying to win a specific title.
Namita Nayyar:
How do you kick start your day. Share with us your first meal of the day? 2 ways to detox?
Manon Costard:
I have two favorite breakfasts: the first one is avocado toasts with poached eggs, I usually add some red onions and spinach to it. The second one is a bowl with oats, lots of fruits, a bit of Greek yogurt and a mix of seeds.
I only use one way to detox: Cardio & strength workouts + Healthy eating (for me this means minimizing sugars, saturated fats and carbs and prioritizing vegetables and lean animal proteins).
Namita Nayyar:
Before kicking off skiing training, what are the key points a beginner needs to keep in mind? 5 key essentials.
Manon Costard:
Once a skier knows how to get out of the water, general posture is key. If the position behind the boat is right, progress can come quite quickly.
- Straight arms
- Soft knees, pushed them forward so they cover your toes
- Hips forward: don’t let your shoulders be closer to the boat than your hips
- Chest up and proud. Try and get your two shoulder blades to touch each other
- Look at where you want to be going. If you look down, you will most likely end up diving in!
Namita Nayyar:
Three components that are a must in a fitness regime to prevent injury? 5 exercises to build full body strength and can be followed even while travelling?
Manon Costard:
To prevent injuries, I believe these three points are critical: know your strengths & weaknesses, listen to your body, accept to take it step by step.
When it comes to building full body strength when traveling, there are a lot of exercises that can be done with bodyweight. Here are the main group of exercises I do:
- Walk. We tend to forget how great it is for our body. I personally have back issues which rules running out of my cardio options. When I have access to a bike, I cycle, but when traveling, 40 to 60 minutes of fast walking ends up doing wonders. It is great to realign your body and does not over-work your psoas (which is a big thing to monitor when dealing with lower back issues)
- Core exercises. You do not need a gym to work on your core. Variations of planks and crunches exercises can be done on a daily basis with no gear.
- Squats and lunges: Again, there are so many variations of these exercises. You only need your body weight, about 20 reps per series.
- Bring an elastic with you, you can use it for all of your exercises but it will also help you work on your arms shoulders while traveling!
- Stretch!
Namita Nayyar:
Define the Women Fitness website for our viewers.
Manon Costard:
Such a great platform to read about health, beauty and fitness tips.
Namita Nayyar:
As a sportswoman, what skincare and hair care routine do you follow to combat the stress of the sport?
Manon Costard:
I spend my life facing the sun, wind and water so taking care of my skin is very important. To prevent it from aging early, I take care of it as much as possible.
I start the day by gently washing my face. I then put on my SPF 50 moisturizer. Before going outside, I apply SPF 50 sunscreen and reapply it every couple of hours.
For my body, I have a SPF 50 or SPF 30 body oil that I use to protect my skin during sun exposure.
At the end of the day, I take great care washing off all these layers of sunscreen, apply a few drops of serum to fight off sunspots and finish my routine with a deep moisturizer that I leave on overnight.
Namita Nayyar:
Social media has become a huge platform to connect with like-minded people across the globe. How has it helped you in building boost?
Manon Costard:
Social media is a great tool when it comes to getting people to discover new things or keep up with their interests. I use it to promote what I do and what the life of a professional water skier looks like. I try to stay true to who I am and for my posts to represent as accurately as possible my lifestyle and activities. My aim is for water ski and sports fans to know me better. I also hope it brings them a bit of inspiration and motivation!
Namita Nayyar:
Resolutions or goals for 2020? Motivational quote you live by?
Manon Costard:
2019 was a big year for me with winning the World Championships as well as the European Championships and the French Nationals.
For 2020, I will be working on pushing my limits further again. I have some technical goals I will be working on to try and have as good of a season I can have on our pro tour. It has been a few years now that I commit to competing in all of the professional tournaments organized in the world. In 2019 I couldn’t do so because of a back injury that kept me from entering a few events. I definitely plan on a healthier 2020 to be able to enter all of our pro events!
Namita Nayyar:
What are the three things about water skiing that thrill you the most and the three things that scare you?
Manon Costard:
What thrills me the most about skiing:
- The speed & acceleration through the course.
- Finding precision in movements while having to use a lot of strength
- The rhythm we go through between the moments when we are in full load against the boat (in my case, it goes up to pulling what is worth 310 kg) and the moments where we are light, gliding on the water approaching the buoys and gradually carving back to a full load again.
What scares me the most about skiing:
- Equipment failure such as binding releasing through the wakes when I am in full load.
- Bad water conditions such as unexpected waves on the lake which can lead to very dangerous falls with the speed.
- Not being able to ski again because of injuries.
Follow her journey here:
- https://www.manoncostard.com
- https://www.instagram.com/manon_costard/
- https://twitter.com/manoncostard
This interview is exclusively taken by Namita Nayyar President womenfitness.net and should not be reproduced, copied or hosted in part or full anywhere without an express permission.
All Written Content Copyright © 2019 Women Fitness