When a two times French spearfishing Champion visits the completely renewed headquarters of his sponsor company, it is definitely a magic moment. Quentin Roustan has visited Seac in Genoa, Italy, where the Italian company in the last few years has completely changed, bringing in-house most of the production, such as fins, masks, snorkels and most of the spearguns line.
During the complete tour of the Seac Headquarters, Quentin was impressed by the huge design and production capacity by the Italian company today. Carlo Forni, Apnea Passion founder and editor in chief, was there, and has taken the occasion to interview the amazing French spearfishing Champion and friend.
Carlo Forni: Hi Quentin, you are for the second time the French Spearfishing Champion. Which is the “secret” of your success?
Quentin Roustan: Honestly at the base of my success I really believe the strategy is the most important part. For example, this year I have not had much time for preparation, as I actually had to build my new home, together with my father, so time was very limited.
CF: Tell us more about the two titles, 2023 and 2024.
Quentin Roustan: The competition area of the 2023 Championship was very big, but depths were quite limited. So the key part of the strategy was to make many dives, of around 30 – 35 seconds per dive, amazingly fast. I was second the first day and won the second day; this gave me the final success.
In 2024, in Brittany, the first championship in such region, the situation was impressive. The coast and sea floor is made of huge rocks in a scenery which is quite unique. The situation was completely different from 2023. In the Ocean, waves were up to 4 meters high during preparation, so extremely tough conditions. Finally though, during the two competition days the sea was totally calm and water totally clean and transparent. We actually competed mainly using the aspetto technique. The tide was also impressive, up to 3 meters. I was finally able to make good catches, in particular a 4 kg Atlantic pollock and a 2.5 kg seabass. Rules, by the way, permitted a maximum of 2 fish per species.
Carlo Forni: This year the French Spearfishing Championship will be held in the French Riviera. What do you expect?
Quentin Roustan: The French Championship this year will be held on the 12 and 13 of September. The conditions will require spearfishing much deeper, around 40 meters. I will need to move a lot from deep to shallow water, understanding which depths will be best, depending on the conditions of the sea. Groupers and meagres are not allowed in the area by the way, so I will need to focus on seabreams, wrasses, salemas and forkbeards.
CF: Which equipment do you use in competitions
Quentin Roustan: I love to use the new Preda HC speargun with closed muzzle in competitions. As wetsuit, the Seac Snake is great, and I use it in all its thicknesses, 5 and 7 mm, with the possibility of mixing 5 mm with 7 mm. The Seac Samurai knife is perfect to finish the fish, while the Seac Apnea HR diving watch is very complete of functions, and beautiful!
Carlo Forni: What about the coming World Spearfishing Championship, which will be held in Brazil, Sao Francisco do Sul, at the end of November?
Quentin Roustan: Sea conditions expected are of low visibility, and depth not more than 20-25 meters. To go deeper, in fact, one should go 50 km out of the coast. The preparation for the French Spearfishing Championship in September will also be useful for the World Championship. Spearfishing techniques will alternate aspetto and cave spearfishing.
CF: When did you start spearfishing? What is spearfishing for you and how do you handle it?
Quentin Roustan: I started quite late, at 21 years of age. I was invited by a friend who had a Club. I started with my family using the hand harpoon. Spearfishing is a very tough activity that gives little compared to the effort you need to put into it. Thanks to my job I have shifts and so can manage to go spearfishing even 2 or 3 times a week. I love spearfishing in the dens and also aspetto for greater fish. also because during competitions the latter technique is difficult to apply. It is not easy to win catching snappers or other big fish.
Carlo Forni: Which is the situation of spearfishing competitions in France?
Quentin Roustan: Not easy. In France athletes and the Federation, the FFPSA, should come together to work for the good of spearfishing competitions, but it is not easy, as spearfishing is a very individual sport. The young spearos simply want to go in the water and make photos and videos to publish on social media, but are not really interested in associating to a Club, something that would instead help all the spearfishing sector.
