Rita Aranus fell in love with the Venezuelan wind

Andreína Peñaloza | Jun 05, 2017

The number seven of the Kiteboarding world, “Rita Arnaus”, recently visited Venezuela. Thanks to an invitation from the @VzlaKite network due to its second anniversary, celebrated in the island of Coche. This 21 years old rider has traveled around the world exploring each corner through Kitesurfing. She is currently on the World Kiteboarding League  tour and she reached 7th place in the latest competition, which took place in France, maintaining her 2016 absolute rank.

We spoke with the native from Cataluña in El Yaque, a very nice interview at the home of her friend and host for Venezuela, Liloo Fourre.

Foto de @77_Productions

How did you get started on Kite?

My parents are Windsurf champions in Spain so I have always been in contact with the beach and the wind. We are from Barcelona and we have a place at Sant Pere Pescador, a very nice place with practice for both sports. When I was 10 years old I told my parents that I wanted to ride the waves and they rushed me towards windsurf. I likes this sport a lot too but when I was 15 years old, I got mononucleosis and had anemia. Therefore, I was very weak and I could only use the training kite at the shore. I was hooked to Kiteboarding after that until I completely switched and understood what my real passion was.

 

 

You have been dancing since you were 3 years old, how do you think this has influenced your freestyle?

I feel it has had a very big influence because I have learned to look at someone and copy it. Well, it is the same for freestyle. I look at the other girls and think that I want to do that trick so I start practicing. Somehow, my body assimilates the tricks in a more natural way because I have been dancing and copying movements from a teacher my entire life and it actually is very similar. It helps a lot to look at my own recordings because it works as a mirror and I can compare.

My family has always supported me very much and I have been doing ballet since I was 3 years old, then I switched to Jazz, Contemporary, African Dance, Hip Hop and Funky. All of this until I was 16 years old and I had to decide if I should go with Kite completely or keep dancing.

How was your first experience on the world tour?

I remember it took place in Dakhla, Morocco in 2013. My level was the lowest one, I did not know much but I wanted to gain experience and do what I knew Best. I reached the ninth position and I did better on the second stop, in Germany, where I reached 7th place. At that time, I was with my sponsor Best on the national team but since then, they saw how I did on social media and videos so they decided to incorporate me into the International Team. Thanks to this, I was able to do the entire tour in the following years because I had better support.

Which ones have been your better performances in Kiteboarding?

I am a double national champion in Spain. During 2016, I reached the fifth position at two stops of the tour in Cabarete and Nueva Caledonia. In the modality “Big Air”, I was at the podium with the third position and it was very exciting. I am currently on 7th place and I want to improve, I am very glad because I also have the support of the Brunotti and SJCam brands on top of Best Kiteboarding.

Which are your three favorite places in the world to sail?

Brasil, Combuco, it is great for training and it there is always nice people; I always meet great friends each time I go there.

Nueva Caledonia, it is beautiful and very hot and I love it.

Los Roques, I was there recently and thought it was awesome.

Foto de @77_Productions

How was Los Roques?

I still cannot believe how beautiful the place is and with constant wind. You sail with your friends and you can go from one key to another, good weather with heat and an awesome sun. I really liked it. My experience was thanks to @VzlaKite whom organized each day a different sail, with KiteSafaris and DownWinds. It was very fun and I had a lot of fun with my friend Liloo.

What is your impression of Venezuela?

Part of my aspirations with Kite is to make the sport known. I love seeing that many people practice kite in Venezuela. Here in El Yaque I have seen a lot of girls on the water and that is a motivator.

In addition, I was able to appreciate the activities of @VzlaKite, which is trying to motivate more people to practice the sport in order to share with friends and celebrate it. I think it is very interesting and positive because you reach a better impact on the media for Venezuelan spots.

Foto de @77_Productions

I big part of why I came to Venezuela is due to my friend Liloo, whom I met on the Tour three years ago and since then we have been great friends because we share the passion for sailing and dancing. On the stops, we always spend a lot of time together because we practically have the same lifestyle and routines. She is a very good friend and I wanted to visit the country she represents. Therefore, we coordinated everything to be able to sail at El Yaque (her beach) and Coche Island and of course, Los Roques.

I completely fell in love with Venezuela because people are super nice and I had a lot of fun. In addition, I was able to sail at the most beautiful places and of course, I danced a lot. I hope to come back in July but if not, I will definitely come back next year, in February.

Foto de @77_Productions

Rita is an incredible rider that enjoys her passion in and out of the water. Asides from knowing other beaches, she loves making new friends and dancing whenever is possible. She is a young athlete that still has her entire future ahead of her and winds to discover.

 Follow her on Instagram RitaArnaus!