Conference: Making my Passion My Career

Clepsydre, the Career Centre, and KEDGE Alumni, invite you to attend the following conference as part of the "MyWay" days:

Making my Passion my career

with

Alexandre Caizergues

29 January 2020 at 6:30 pm

Marseille Campus (Luminy)

2002 KEDGE graduate (IBBA) Alexandre Caizergues is the French kitesurfer who holds the most titles. He is also the first man in the world to have broken the 100 km/h barrier over water with a sailing craft.

Born on 14 March 1979, Alexandre got involved in the world of kitesurfing as a child when his parents moved to Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône in the winter of 1980. His father, Philippe, had been a windsurfing enthusiast for a few years. In 1985, then President of the "Windclub", he organised the first "International Speed Week", where the best windsurfers of the time came to compete on Napoleon Beach and try to set a world record for speed sailing.

So he was able to meet the greatest water sports performers and heroes of the 80s, like Pascal Maka (first French record holder in all speed categories), Robby Naish, Laird Hamilton, and Jenna De Rosnay. This is were his passion for a world made up of sea, sun, sand, and wind began.

After trying his hand at windsurfing as a teenager, it was only in 2002, at the end of his management studies at KEDGE, that he discovered kitesurfing, a sport that started in the early 2000s. 

His first job was as a salesman in the central purchasing department of a network of shops that specialised in water sports. He worked there for three years and discovered the professional side of his passion. It was also during those years that he discovered speed kiting - a young but promising discipline. He took part in his first competition in April 2005, during the Mondial du Vent (World of Wind), and ranked 12th.

That result changed many things for him. Having caught the competitive bug, he knew he could be part of the history of this sport and wanted to live his passion to the fullest. He quit his job as a salesman in the summer of 2005, and plunged into a career as an elite athlete. That was the beginning of a great adventure.

AN EXTENSIVE LIST OF AWARDS 🏅

Alex Caizergues is the most titled French kitesurfer today.

With four World Champion titles, three French Champion titles in speed, four world speed records, and two world sailing records in all categories combined, he is currently the French kitesurfer the most reported in the media. These achievements led to his joining the French Kitesurfing Team in September 2009.

On 11 November 2013, he again became the fastest man in kitesurfing by setting a new world record in speed kitesurfing with a run at 56.62 knots, or 104.8 km/h. Four years later, he is still working hard and pushing the limits of speed kitesurfing with a speed of 57.98 knots, or 107.3 km/h.

He has also co-authored, with Jean-Baptiste Gendarme “Plus vite que le vent” (Faster than the Wind), published in 2015. Through five essential destinations, Alexandre lets us discover the world tour of the best spots of "planet Kite". Each location is famous for certain characteristics of this sport (speed, features, etc...). The high points described in the book, the "world of wind " and the race for the speed record which takes place every year in the Camargue.

Students and graduates, we hope many of you can attend!