The last day - already. Once again, the sun is making its presence felt. This morning, there’s a twenty-two kilometre canoe trial. The aim of the game is simple. The contestants all line up along the beach, and at the starting gun, they have to run down to their craft, drag it into the water, and then paddle like lunatics out to a buoy situated eleven kilometres away. Then they turn around and paddle like lunatics all the way back again. Sounds easy, doesn’t it, Mister Gil Mention?

Caps jammed down on their foreheads, safety vests and gloves firmly attached, the Amazons charge off to do battle with the turquoise waters of the lagoon. Right from the start, some teams put a comfortable distance between themselves and the others. Is this an event which requires only brute force? No, certainly not. For this sport, technique is the most important element. Not only must the team take care to paddle in rhythm, but the contestant seated in the rear has to use her paddle as a rudder. For the rest of it, all they have to do is dig into the ocean with their paddles with the regularity of a metronome. Very quickly, shoulders begin to feel the strain, but no-one can afford to take it easy. The tide is on the way out now, and time lost on the first leg is going to be transformed into so many tens of metres to make up before they cross the finishing line on the beach. And after 22 kilometres, a canoe weighs a ton!

Very quickly, despite the choppy water raised by a substantial head-wind, team n° 41 ‘VSD-Nike’ gain the upper hand and proceed to murder their competitors, slicing through the water at incredible speed. It’s enough to dishearten their challengers once and for all. Behind them, the tangled mass of the rest of the flotilla is struggling to make progress. Arms grow heavy, brows stream with a mixture of sweat and sun-cream, stinging the eyes – it’s almost unbearable! And the sun continues to weigh mercilessly on the skin … the last contestants slowly take on the uncomfortable colour of shrimps. The canoes bounce this way and that across the waves instead of going straight ahead. It’s enough to drive anyone crazy.

Far ahead, Emmanuelle Joly, Rachel Lecoute and Agnès Thierry cross the finishing line with several minutes of advance over the competition, and let out howls of joy. This final victory means that the three surfer girls have won this year’s Vittel Amazon Raid - at last, after two consecutive years in second place. Some time later, as they arrive on the beach one after the other, the Amazons climb out of their canoes exhausted by the effort, but delighted to have taken part. Now everyone has a few hours of free time in which to enjoy the sea and lounge beneath the coconut palms around the swimming pool. Because this evening, at the hotel Safari, once the final results have been announced, there’s no doubt that every one of the Amazons will manage to dig deep into her reserves and spend a little more energy – on the dance floor!