Interview by Oliver Nermerich
Photography by Dominic Swagemakers
Soulgrind to gap
Yo Sven, you just got back from a 5-week vacation. Where have you been exactly? And what have you done?
I went to Thailand and Hong Kong for 5 weeks together with my girlfriend. It was a very nice experience. Riding elephants, hiking through the jungle, getting our paddle open water course. It was also to take a rest from skating for 5 weeks. It felt good for the body as well. I think the last time was 9 years ago when I broke my ankle. But now I’m happy to be back on my skates!
So Winterclash is approaching fast. It’s in your home country and almost around the corner from the place where you are living. You know the park very well and I assume you will skate hard?
I will do my best. I don’t skate there so often. Most of the time when I skate in a park it’s the park in my hometown in the „World Skate Center“ in Hertogenboch. Or I skate in the streets.
Last year you belonged to the top five skaters. What’s your personal goal for this year?
I have no idea… Last year I was totally surprised I made it that far. Probably it was all because of that one trick on the sub box.
This year I just hope to skate the way I want and have a lot of fun with my friends.
Backside Royale on frozen wood
It seems like you brought a big fan crowd to Berlin last year. This year you skate in your hometown and I assume the vibe and dedication will be even more intense than last year. Did they already produce more „Svenergy“ scarf?
Hahaha, the „Svenergy“ scarf wasn’t made for me but for a Dutch energy company that’s sponsoring a dutch ice speed skater who is also called Sven. I think Ralf brought it to the Winterclash and everybody thought he made it for me.
It was funny to see all my friends supporting me. Probably one of my best memories. I don’t know if the group is going to be as big as last time since the tickets are sold out and I don’t know who bought a ticket.
You reached the ripe age of 30 recently. Last year you travelled to a lot of contests in Europe and also outside of Europe. Are you thinking about stepping a bit back this year? Or are you still highly motivated to visit and skate all the major contests?
For this year: no problem! I’m certainly thinking about this more often. But you never know, until now I still feel I have enough „Svenergy“. Let’s see for 2012.
360° Soulgrind
If you are not on the road and not skating, what else do you do? What’s your day-job, other hobbies?
I’m working for Rollerblade as the European Team Manager and I’m a lot in contact with Tom Hyser about this. I got my own show company with the „Mind the Gap“ setup and and the halpipe. Check it out: www.sb-events.nl
Next to this I also organize the Dutch Championships this year which includes 3 stops, the „Mind the Gap“ stops and EC Halfpipe skating. And of course I still have my own skating (Street, tours, contests, halfpipe shows).
Any big plans for this year so far? Where can we see you this year? And is there another „Mind the Gap“ series coming up?
For now we have one stop in June in my home town at a big HipHop festival and we have some demos with „Mind the Gap“. We are also planning 2 tours with Rollerblade, one in Europe and one in the US. But my next stop will be the rollTogether and then Winterclash.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the Winterclash. We will provide once again a big live-update and hope we can have a small chat at the clash again?
Of course, no problem man. See you on the 29th at the rollTogether!
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