Young brothers Malo and Arno love extreme sports – and play 8 of them. Here’s how they juggle it all

SINGAPORE – A treasure hunt of sorts is unfolding at the Pichoir home in Bukit Timah, where brothers Malo and Arno are searching their garage for the sports equipment and gear to be used in the photo shoot with The Sunday Times.

It is quite an effort, for between them the multi-talented siblings play a total of eight sports: Skateboarding, cable wakeboarding, wakesurfing, downhill mountain biking, kitefoiling, wingfoiling, skiing and snowboarding.

The love for extreme sports runs in the family. Malo and Arno, who are 13 and 11 respectively, enjoy skateboarding, wakesurfing and downhill mountain biking. Malo competes in wingfoiling and skateboarding, while Arno gets his fix from cable wakeboarding and wakesurfing. Both also compete in skiing.

Their father Guillaume is himself a wingfoiler and wakesurfer, starting out with water skiing at six.

“I was not as courageous as Malo and Arno. I remember my first time water skiing, and it was not a fun experience, it was really stressful,” said the Frenchman.

“It was intentional to introduce them to the sport I practise. And they got interested pretty quickly, which was very satisfying for me as a parent.”

His sons started playing sports when they were three, beginning with skateboarding before picking up skiing and wakeboarding, as the similar skill sets made it easier to transition.

Weekends and family holidays for the Pichoirs are often spent in the pursuit of their many sporting interests.

Guillaume, 51, is the chief executive officer of Da Paolo Group, which runs Italian restaurants, cafes and delis located around Singapore. His Singaporean wife Francesca Scarpa-Pichoir, whose parents founded the company, is its head of marketing & product management.

They frequently go on boat trips to wakesurf as a family, with Francesca also getting on the board. It was also during these excursions out to sea that their children learnt to love sports, particularly in Arno’s case.

The couple recalled how 12-month-old Arno had gestured to be put on the wakeboard before he could even speak. That was how he got his first taste of wakesurfing, riding the wake on his father’s shoulders.

As the boys grew older, they developed different passions.

Arno’s favourite among the sports is cable wakeboarding, a water sport in which riders are pulled by an overhead cable system along a lake with various obstacles such as ramps, kickers, and rails.

Older brother Malo has taken a keen interest in wingfoiling, a new sailing discipline in which the athlete stands atop a hydrofoil while holding an inflatable wing.

Guillaume himself took part in the 2024 Defi Wing, the world’s largest wingfoiling race which hosted over 400 athletes that year.

Malo and Guillaume recently competed in the second leg of the Northeast Monsoon Grand Prix in Singapore as well. Malo topped the field in the Under-16 and Under-19 categories, while Guillaume led the standings in the Grand Master (50 years old and above) category.

Guillaume was also first overall after finishing on the podium in 14 out of the 20 races, while Malo was fifth.

The father-and-son pair are now carrying their momentum into the first leg of the Wingfoil World Cup Series in Hong Kong, where Guillaume sits 33rd in a 41-strong group, while Malo is four spots ahead in 29th after 12 races.

Other Singaporean wingers competing in Hong Kong are Mason Lau, nine, and Victoria Chew, 13.

As evidenced by the 15-minute struggle to fit all of the boys’ sports equipment into one frame, their various sports pursuits require a finely tuned juggling act in order to practise and train in them.

The siblings manage by dividing their time and energy according to optimal seasonal conditions, capitalising on factors such as the windy periods in Singapore or winter months overseas.

Arno said: “In the summer, we do a lot of wakeboarding or kitesurfing, or we mountain bike and skateboard. In the spring, when it’s cold, we ski. In the afternoon when the snow is sticky, we can skateboard.”

Malo added that the family spends about seven weeks of the year in cold climates, which gives them time to practise winter sports. A discipline like skateboarding can be done before or after school – they even have a skateboarding ramp in their house – with time out on the water reserved for weekends.

While mum Francesca participates in sports recreationally, she plays a pivotal role by supporting the family, taking care of the administrative and logistical duties.

She told ST: “I feel very proud. It’s one thing to do just one sport, but it’s another to do so many. And it’s nice because they all do it together, including (Guillaume).”

Arno, the youngest of the sporty family, is still undecided on which sport he would like to focus on. Although his goal is clear – to continually improve in his sports.

Malo wants to focus on wingfoiling in the future, adding: “My goal is to reach a high level in the sports, specifically wingfoiling. I’m gonna focus more on that. If I have the opportunity to turn professional, I think I would take it, but we’ll see how it goes.”

As for mum and dad, they just want their kids to be happy.

“Introducing them to these sports and seeing that it makes them happy, fulfilled and healthy, that’s what matters most,” said Guillaume.