Around the world, Chloé Seyrès has made French skating shine in a multitude of disciplines. A multidisciplinary champion and historical ambassador of Flaneurz of which we are very proud. At the beginning of the adventure, she was also part of our group of beta testers.

We met this early user. For her, roller skating is an indispensable element, and she shares her story with us.

 

Chloé Seyres

/You seem to have covered a lot of areas in rollerskating, can you tell us a few words about it? How would you describe yourself today if you had to introduce yourself?

In a few words, I’ve had a go at half-pipes, freestyle slalom, freeskate, roller derby and rollerdance – and I ride indiscriminately with inline skates and quads. 

Otherwise, in a few more words:

I’ve skated almost forever: But it’s around 11-12 years old that my Sunday afternoon hobby at the Parc bordelais turned into a passion. I started by throwing myself into half-pipes, before attending a freestyle slalom demo and falling in love with the discipline. I did 10 years of it, during which I met great people and travelled a lot.

I hung up my inline skates at the time when the Whip It phenomenon hit France. After investigation, I found out that the Paris RollerGirls had just been created, 2-3 months earlier, and I jumped at the chance. I played three years for Paris, moved to Germany where I joined the Berlin Bombshells for a year. 

In the meantime I took part in the first two World Cups in Toronto and Dallas, then I briefly entered the New Skids On The Block in Montreal before returning to France for my studies – and did half a season with the All Blocks of Mérignac.

After those few chaotic years, I moved back to Montreal, this time for good. I reentered Montreal Roller Derby for a few months, before retiring to refocus on my life.

After this interlude in a contact team sport, I returned to my first passions with rollerdancing, a more creative and technical discipline. I had already had a glimpse of it in Paris, where I had co-founded the SkateXpress crew with other skaters, but the twists and turns of life hadn’t allowed me to delve into it until then.

 

/What is your best memory of competition? Can you tell us about your achievements?

In slalom, there are three disciplines:

/Classic: a choreography prepared in advance
/Battle: an escalade of technical combos in groups of 4 riders
/Speed: speed duels in three rounds

Classic and battle form the freestyle part, and speed is aside. In terms of rankings, I was world number 1 in speed from the creation of the monthly ranking until my retirement (January 2007-September 2010) and almost the same for freestyle. I have 4 world titles, 3 European and 8 French titles overall and many victories in the international series.

In terms of competition memories, I have experienced so many events and emotions during this period that I am unable to limit myself to just one. Some firsts are special to me: my first French championships, in Bordeaux 2002, where I won the title in junior classic against... only boys; my first international podium, in Lausanne 2003, in mixed category; my first competition in Asia…

Some titles are also more dear to me than others: my 2nd world title in classic, in Barcelona 2006, where I beat the record for the highest score, at a time when points were still attributed to tricks; my world speed title that I won with a bluff in Singapore 2008; and my two consecutive European titles in battle, in Moscow 2009 and Paris 2010, of which I am particularly proud because the competition was very tight.

Beyond the successes, the relationships that I built, especially the group of friends from the French circuit and the SebaTeam, remain the most nostalgic memories of this period.

As for the roller derby anecdotes and achievements... With the Paris RollerGirls, I participated in the 2nd French bout, “Bons baisers de Paris”, against the Petites Morts, and in the very first international (friendly) bout on French soil against Team Unicorn, which we won to everyone’s surprise! 

With the Berlin Bombshells in 2014, we were one of the first European teams to go to the United States to take part in a tournament and climb up the rankings, thanks to which we were able to enter the WFTDA Division 2 championship!

 

 

 

/You’re an historical ambassador, how did you first learn about Flaneurz? Did you believe in the project right away?

 

I knew Flaneurz in its early days, when Florian was doing tests with wooden plates. I had very high hopes that the project would work, because this kind of hybrid project had never succeeded before... and the results have exceeded my expectations!

Back in the days, I had a pair of detachable inline skates (Hypnos): from a rolling point of view, it worked, but my wheels would sometimes detach in the middle of a jump; and from a walking point of view, you end up believing you’re a cosmonaut. On the contrary, I also had Heelys shoes, which were suitable for walking, but were just another rolling gadget. And these are just two of many examples.

Flaneurz is truly the first system that works just as well for walking and rolling.

  

/What does it mean to you to be one of our ambassadors?

 

It means being part of a family promoting a project made BY riders FOR riders. A project that really meets our values and needs, because the creators are also passionate users.

/Do you use your Flaneurz on a daily basis? If so, in what way?

I use my Flaneurz to dance, I like the smoothness that the sneakers bring. I also really appreciate the fact that I have efficient AND classy skates. With Nike AF1s at your feet, it’s hard to look bad!

I use them to get to places quickly WITHOUT taking public transport and WITHOUT having to bother about carrying anything cumbersome (I just slip the wheels into my bag and off I go!) Typically when I go shopping, or for an evening out…

  

/Lastly, do you have any advice to give to someone who would not dare to have a go at skating?

There are different ways to enter the world of skating, and hopefully one of them will seem more accessible to you... For example, you can take beginner’s lessons to gain confidence (learn how to fall and stop + put on pads); ask one or more friends to come with you; find the skating spots in your city and go ask questions for direct advice; or conversely, find a quiet place to make your “mistakes” out of sight; search and analyse videos that inspire you on the Internet; get a nice pair of skates to motivate you to take them out...


Feel free to follow Chloé on all her social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.