The Survivor is alive and
well, and lives in Toulouse …
Yes, Corinne Castets is a Survivor.
She’s played 20 European Team Championships in a row, and she’s here.
She’s suffered from a poor coaching infrastructure and hardly any support
throughout her career, and she’s here. She had injuries that prevented her
from even walking properly just a few months ago, and she’s here.
And still kicking. And still winning when it really matters.
As a child, Corinne is not much interested in academic schoolwork. No, she
likes sports. She starts with gymnastics (from 8 to 11) then basketball
(until 16).
She is quite successful, progressing to ‘National 2’,
the portal to the professional league.
Then she switches again, this time to "pelote basque",
or Jai Alai, an ancient racquet game popular in the
French South West and Spain. Once again, she is very successful, becoming,
along with her mother, French ‘National 2’National Champion at the first
attempt.
"I would like to
have worked
with her ten
years ago."
FRED ROUALEN
Physical Coach |
But her life is about to change.
In September 1983, a friend introduces her to a racquet game, "le squash".
And it clicks with her: "I immediately loved squash. I was playing for
hours, running everywhere like a mad woman. I just loved it!" she smiles.
"One month later I was playing in my first tournament.
I walked all over everybody, and only lost in final against the French
number 3 of the time, Yvonne Ondarts. Three months later, I played her
again in Biarritz, and this time I won 3/2".
But no-one recognises her potential, and she is left more or less on her
own. No career plan, no goals set, no real ambitions. "Well, I didn’t have
a coach, my parents didn’t have the financial means to help me to pay for
my travel expenses on tournaments, training, etc. So, I just couldn’t go
onto the International Circuit like I should have, or could have."
"Her best
qualities? Honesty,
fighting spirit & determination."
NATHALIE CORNET French Coach |
Corinne needed someone to encourage her,
to push her. "I was extremely gifted physically, so I didn’t train that
much. It was so easy for me, I didn’t have to work that hard. I was
training, yes, but I always gave 100% of myself during the tournament.
My motivation was never stronger than during tournaments. I wanted to win,
to win and to win!"
After winning the National Junior in 1984 at her first and only
participation, she becomes in 1986 the French number 1, a ranking she’ll
keep for FIFTEEN YEARS.
The same year, she plays in her first Senior National Championships, and
once again, wins it. In 1987 she loses 3/2 in the final, but then follows
a long run of victories, from 1988 to 1996. In 1997, she is up 2/0 and 5/2
against the newcomer Isabelle Stoehr (now French number 1 and ranked world
13) and loses the match and ‘her’ title.
"That is one of my worst memories! I should have won two more titles in a
row! But it was a period where I was asking myself a lot of questions
about squash, about life in general, about me. " She smiles. "And Isabelle
had the support I didn’t have, and she was very gifted. But I realised
then that I was still hungry, that I had more left in me. And I came back
with a vengeance to win "my" title back in 1999, 3/2 against Isabelle in
Rennes.
That was a beautiful day"
"She's got
physical abilities way above the norm."
FRED ROUALEN |
Yes, at 34, the woman was still fighting
at the top. But it was time for her to earn some money. "For years, I had
been struggling. I was doing a bit of coaching, and I was travelling a lot
to play on the tour.
But the prize money was so low that by the time I paid the expenses I had
nothing left."
Once again, the official system at the time didn’t offer much help. "In
the old days, the French Federation had a lot of volunteers who meant
well, but who weren’t really efficient, they were spreading themselves too
much.
Now, everybody has a precise job to do, and it runs so much better."
Corinne is all praise for Bertrand
Bonnefoy, French DTN (National Technical Director).
"Bertrand Bonnefoy always believed in me. I owe him a lot, including my
present job with Orange".
Yes, Bertrand moves the Earth to get the top-level athletes good jobs. And
it’s not easy in France, as squash is a relatively new sport, and is not
recognised by the Olympic Committee.
The first time I
saw her I was amazed by her physical qualities, and she was raging
and fighting. She hasn't changed."
NATHALIE CORNET |
It takes eighteen months, eighteen long
months, but in 2000 eventually, Corinne gets a good job, working in the
planning service of Orange in Toulouse. A job she likes immensely, where
people are aware of her sporting obligations and ambitions. "I have never
been so happy in my life than since I got that job," Corinne admits.
And obligations, she has a lot. Training for example.
She trains a minimum of 4 times a week, on court mainly, for about 90
minutes. First routines and ghosting, then a match (very few runs, that’s
not her pet activity!)
"If Corinne had
had the chance to go full-time I think she could have got to the top
ten and maybe even higher."
ISABELLE STOEHR
Team-mate |
And the tournaments. And the travelling.
And the preparation for specific events such as the European Team
Championship 2004 in Rennes.
"Well, that didn’t start well, did it?" she barks. "For about a year I had
a groin injury that got terribly bad after three months of heavy squash at
the end of 2003.
"In January, I just couldn’t walk. I rested a lot, but still I had to
withdraw 3 days before the French Nationals in mid-February. That was
probably one of the worst days
of my life."
But once again, the Survivor wasn’t ready to retire gracefully. "After the
huge disappointment of missing the Nationals, I decided I had to get back
for the Europeans. Bertrand Bonnefoy called it "Operation: Commando".
Suddenly, Corinne is "taken in hand". In Paris, Fred Roualen, a physical
coach from "la Jeunesse et les Sports", the French Sport Ministry, runs a
series of tests and prepares a training program, mainly on the bicycle, to
avoid strain on the joints, plus some specific court movements. "With
Nathalie Cornet, the French National Coach, we designed a program to allow
Corinne to realise how powerful she is and what explosive abilities she
possesses," says Fred her physical trainer.
"A big thank-you
for all the emotions you made us feel."
LAURENCE BOIS
Team-mate |
When this Fred has finished with Corinne,
it’s his wife, Fred Kirsh,
the French Team Physio (yes, another Fred…), who takes over
for stretching and recuperation exercises. Not to forget sessions with a
dietician from the INSEP (French Sport Institute).
Then back home in Toulouse, she works with Laurence Vidal, another physio
who introduces her to a revolutionary machine, the LPG Huber, to help her
rebalance her whole body. "I was pushing more on one foot than on the
other, and it created all sorts of problems. Technically first, mainly on
my backhand,
but it also affected my whole body. My back, my hips, everything was just
out of place. That’s what caused the injury I suffered from for the year
leading up to the Europeans."
Corinne starts hitting the ball only at the end of February. In mid-March
she starts working with Fred Roualen and the whole team. And against all
the odds, at the end of April, she helps France to reach its best-ever
place in the Women’s European Team Championships.
"That victory in the play-off was very emotional. I had been chasing it
for so many years, well 20 actually! And it’s a shame that Isabelle was
badly injured, I believe that we could have gone in the final." she sighs.
"But I came back from Hell! It’s feels good, you know. It’s a wonderful
reward for the work accomplished by everybody.
"I never trained that hard in my whole life. People said that it would be
impossible to come back from injury so quickly," she laughs. "Well, I
guess I just love the impossible…. "
"Corinne, I'm
proud to have shared all those years with you, and to finish with
this beautiful
third place is a wonderful reward. Thank you."
NATHALIE CORNET |
Although she announced her International
retirement in an emotional presentation ceremony in Rennes, Castets hasn’t
completely ruled out the World Team Championships in September 2004.
"Of course, I would love to be there, to help the team improve on the13th
place we obtained in 2002. But I need to clear things in my head, and to
find out what is my life going to be.
I’m going to go on training anyway, and who knows?"
One can’t help thinking that with such potential, Corinne Castets would
have had a much more successful international career had she been born a
few years later.
"Of course, I can’t help having a few regrets. I wish I’d had somebody to
help me train, and run, and do all the things a top athlete should do. But
when I was young only the men were taken care of.
"So, yes, there was a time when I was a little bitter. Now, I have put all
that behind me, but I just hope that, if there is somewhere a player with
my physical potential, she will be recognised, nursed, supported, helped
and guided to the top. I just hope that the same mistake won’t be made
twice."
|
I immediately loved squash.
I was playing for hours, running everywhere like a mad woman. I just
loved it! |
My motivation was never stronger than
during tournaments. I wanted to win,
to win and to win! |
"In
the old days, the French Federation had a lot of volunteers who meant
well, but who weren’t really efficient, they were spreading themselves too
much. Now, everybody has a precise job to do, and it runs so much better."
|
"Bertrand Bonnefoy always believed in me. I owe him a lot, including my
present job with Orange" |
"After the huge disappointment of
missing the Nationals, I decided I had to get back for the
Europeans.
Bertrand Bonnefoy called it "Operation: Commando". |
People said that it would be impossible to come back from injury so
quickly," she laughs. "Well, I guess I just love
the impossible…. "
|
PROFILE |
Born: |
3rd June 1965 |
Club: |
Squash Energeia
(Toulouse) |
Titles: |
French Junior
Champion 1984 (at first attempt)
French Champion 1986
(at first attempt),
1998-1996, and 1999
(11 titles in all)
European Individual Champion 1993, Lille
3 French National League titles and 2 European Club titles (with
St Cloud)
WISPA titles:
Squash Aux Lices 2002
Carcassone Open 2003
National Racketball Champion 1991 |
Rankings: |
French no 1 for 15
years
(1986-2000)
Current French Ranking: 3
World Ranking: 81
(best 34) |
|