JD – Mr Paddle Board
Meet Jean-Denis aka JD.
JD – Mr Paddle Board (as I call him) is the founder of Paddling in Antibes. His real name is Jean-Denis but he is more commonly known as JD.
He is THE person to go to if you want to learn how to paddle board or just want to rent one. I call him the Mr Paddle Board just because everyone seems to know him and the fact that he seems to be the most popular person to rent Paddle Boards from. You will find him in Cap d’Antibes most mornings and early evenings either on Plage Garoupe or the Plage des Ondes depending on the weather.
We met up recently for a quick chat.
“I was born in Antibes and I started to do Paddle Boarding in 2009”.
“I think I was one of the first people doing paddle boarding here. When I came here the first time to paddle board everyone on the beach was coming up to me asking “ What is this? What are you doing”? but now everyone is paddle boarding”.
“Before that I was, and still am a surfer. I have been surfing since I was 20 years old. I started surfing here in Antibes but there weren’t many waves which is why I got interested in paddle boarding. When I was younger I had studied sports mangement. After that I was working on a golf course and then at a computer company in Sophia Antipolis. That was very different for me. I was sitting behind a desk all day inside an office but it was ok, it was cool. After 5 years I needed to change though. I needed to be outside again”.
“So I discovered the stand up paddle board and decided to create my business”.
“The club was set up in 2009 and offers training for professionls and amateurs. Now we also hire out paddle boards throughout the year to the public. The club has proven to be very popular and we now have over 70 members, professional and amateurs who train with us all year round. In fact the French champion in the womens’ section used to train with us”.
“Next week we are competing in a big competition in St Maxime so I am currently training for that”.
“We also compete in the French championships each year. This year we are 5 people from the club competing”.
“When I started there weren’t many competitions in France but now there are many stand up paddle competitions all over the world as well as many here in France. We Have one in Lyon and one in Paris. The Paris one takes place on the river Seine in November and this year some of us from the club will be competing in this one”.
“I am looking forward to going to such a place to do paddle boarding. It will be cold but we will be in full wetsuits so it will be fun I think. It will Certainly be very different to paddle boarding on the Cap”.
To book a paddleboard with JD you can contact him on: 0618083510
If you want to go paddle boarding with a group which is always more fun than going alone then I suggest you join JD’s mailing list. He will then send you weekly dates and locations for meet ups. Some of the sessions are training sessions but there are also meet ups just for fun. You can book one of his boards or bring your own. To sign up send him an email: paddlinginantibes@hotmail.com.
Happy Paddle Boarding everyone!
website: https://www.paddlinginantibes-center.com/
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