Feeling the benefits of the sea

Longe-côte is a new water sport on offer this summer at Mount Maunganui. Feeling the benefits of Longe-côte at Pilot Bay are Kylie Wilkins, Cassie Walker, Kerry Mitchell, Charlotte Wichman and instructor Nicolas Fromont.

Dressed in a shorty wetsuit and aqua socks, I feel a little bit like a penguin. I'm not a water baby by any means, but I couldn't resist the urge to try a new water sport being offered on the shores of Mount Maunganui.

Longe-côte (walk along the coast) is a form of aquatic hiking practiced in Northern France. Frenchman Nicolas Fromont has been offering sessions at Mount Maunganui since October and has already attracted a steady following.

Sessions are usually held in the sea off Tay Street or Omanu, but today the sea is too rough so we are taking to the water from Pilot Bay. With a cruise ship in port and a number of schools having end-of-year picnic lunches, we have quite an audience, but Nicolas also offers early morning and late afternoon sessions.

I'm joined by Charlotte Wichman, Cassie Walker and Kylie Wilkins from Zespri who are doing the session during their lunch break.

Charlotte was an early convert to longe-côte and says it is a fun way to exercise in a beautiful environment. Kylie agrees, and says it's a great way to exercise outdoors.

'It's a good workout and it's a really fun group activity as well,” she says. 'I always feel like I've achieved something and sleep really well afterwards.”

Cassie, like me, is a novice, but says it looks like a far better option than being inside in a gym.

After a quick warm-up on the beach we head into the water with paddles in hand. Because we don't have the resistance of the waves to work with today, we will use these instead.

With the water at waist and, later, mid-chest height we start walking parallel with the beach in single file. This gentle start later turns into jogging and lunging and then gets more serious when we do a version of ‘last man up', with the person at the back of the line running as fast as they can to the front, then the next person and so on.

We also run in circles, creating a whirlpool, and use our paddles to increase the resistance in the water. The paddle also doubles as a weight to get the arms pumping.

If you've ever been to an aqua aerobics class it's quite similar, but you have the added advantage of being in the sea, receiving a healthy dose of sea air instead of chlorine fumes.

'I prefer the ocean because you can jump above or below the waves. It's a better tonic,” says Nicolas.

Nicolas hails from Brittany in Northern France, where he worked largely as a scuba diving instructor. He has continued that in New Zealand but also runs a consultancy agency specialising in working with companies to incorporate sport into their health and safety policies to help staff combat issues such as obesity and stress that, in turn, lead to absenteeism.

Nicolas is the only person in New Zealand offering longe-côte and at this stage plans to run the sessions until the end of the summer.

'A lot of people in France do it all year round if the conditions are good,” he explains. 'But a lot of Kiwis don't go to the ocean, which I find very interesting. In France sea water is very important to people for good health.”

He suspects the temperature of the water might be a deterrent but says: 'You don't get cold because you are working the whole time”. Getting warm once you get out, however, is important.

The one-hour sessions include up to 10 participants and at the moment are largely made up of women.

'I need to attract more guys!” says Nicolas. 'In France longe-côte is practised by young and old. If you run for one hour it is the same as one hour of longe-côte, except - and this is a good thing - you don't have sore muscles after longe-côte.”

Nicolas says longe-côte is ideal for people recovering from injury as there is no stress to the joints. The practice is also believed to relieve stress, anxiety and depression.

'A lot of Kiwis have said to me ‘what a good idea'. You have such a beautiful natural environment here for it.”

And the exercise is not so intense that there isn't time for a bit of socialising. The topic of conversation during our session is what to wear to a 90s-themed office Christmas party.

'It's very friendly, and when you're in the water with the Mount in front of you and the sun on your back you share something special. People go home with a big smile on their faces,” says Nicolas.

To find out more visit the Mount Maunganui Longe-Côte Facebook page, call Nicolas on: 020 4110 2554 or email: earthsport@gmail.com

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