Stay on course
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- Friday, 13 November 2015 05:09
It has been a month and a half now that we are back on the water. It was hard to get back on track. I went through some tough moments late September and I cannot tell you how hard it was to just push off the dock and to be motivated for the National Rowing Championships in single scull. Two weeks off were not enough to heal after such a disappointment at World Championships. Let alone being at the start of a championship and get the machine running to hurt myself deep into a race. But we kept our heads up and we attacked this regatta, early October, ready to prove that we could deliver some good speed.
Once upon a time
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- Tuesday, 16 February 2016 05:18
Once upon time, a rower was dreaming of a gold medal at the Olympic Games. But he had to face mountains and deserts to succeed in his quest. Sometimes his quest seemed very far away but he kept going...
I would love to start this post as if it was a fairy tale and I could create a happy end. But I am not going to tell you about the dragons in that story. 2 weeks later, reality is still as morose as before. Rio 2016 seems very far away. I try to look at it upside down but nothing changes. Some people might say that 5 months ago, I would have been happy to be in a boat in Aiguebelette. Others that we can still qualify in 8 months or that we gained in experience and that we only just missed the qualification.
Home straight
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- Sunday, 09 August 2015 21:30
We are currently in Guelph, ON near Toronto for a training camp leading us to World championships (Aug 30 – Sept 6). This is our final preparation for this major goal of the season: Olympic Qualification.
Why Guelph? We came here to test the place as a potential training camp base before Rio next year. Indeed, Guelph is only an hour behind Rio so we will minimize the jetlag effect. It is warm in the summer and Toronto Pearson International Airport is only an hour away. Perfect, no?
Golden Panams
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- Friday, 17 July 2015 17:09
We left Toronto with a lot of hardware in our luggage and tons of good memories. What an incredible experience to race at home. I understand a lot more why teams competing at their own Games, like in London 2012, are boosted by the crowd. This is an incredible feeling to enter the last 500m and to hear the crowd roaring. It gave me goose bumps. It all started with the opening ceremony. We had the opportunity to go to Toronto on July 10th and march along with 500 Team Canada athletes and coaches. What a feeling to enter the stadium as the host country.
Home Games
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- Friday, 10 July 2015 16:51
It won’t happen again in my career to have the opportunity to compete in my country, on our home water. It could have happened in France this year with world championships held in Aiguebelette, if I were still racing with the French colors. It is something special and I am proud and happy to be part of Team Canada for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto !
Bronze at World Cup 2
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- Monday, 22 June 2015 19:47
7 years. My last medal in a quadruple scull was also in bronze and it was in Beijing at the Olympic Games. But my last international medal was 3 years ago in double scull. Once more...a bronze medal. It feels like I am back where I left things. But let's go back 3 days ago.
Varese - World Cup 2
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- Monday, 22 June 2015 18:01
It has been a week that we arrived in Italy. The 9 hours jetlag was not too bad to deal with despite a tough training program. We have kept the rhythm with 2 to 3 sessions per day. World Cup 2 is part of a process not our goal number 1. Nevertheless, it feels good to be back on a racing course, to get that adrenaline flow while rowing down the course.
So I am back in the quad. Last time was Beijing 2008. But first of all, I would like to introduce my crewmates. 4 seats but 5 guys. Injury is a risk (as I found out!) so it is not a bad thing to switch and know how to row in any situation.
To race or not to race ?
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- Thursday, 28 May 2015 04:57
« Impossible is nothing ». The commercial slogan by the famous sports apparel manufacturer must be right. 3 months exactly after my back surgery, I am back on track. Hours and hours of rehab, of hard work and dedication made the difference.
The Fire burning
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- Sunday, 19 April 2015 22:45
It’s been eight weeks since surgery. Thirteen weeks since I stopped training in January. I have been very careful and sensible with how I deal with my injury. Cédric Berrest, who knows me better than anyone in the sport, would certainly be very surprised with how patient I have been so far. It seems like I am getting old and wiser. Who knows?
Facing injury and dealing with it is probably the most difficult experience for an athlete and it is one of the hardest things I have had to handle. I can compare it to my worst athlete’s nightmare at London 2012 in some aspects. Why is that? Because it makes you doubt. Doubt on yourself. On your ability and capacity to achieve something again. You feel weak and terribly vulnerable. Your whole world collapses around you and what you have spent years to build seems to vanish.
500 Days to Rio – An Athlete’s Perspective
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- Tuesday, 24 March 2015 22:32
Published on www.rowingcanada.org
Today marks 500 days before the most important sporting event in the world for rowers and many other athletes. Olympism is the root of our sport and the Olympic Games are the pinnacle, punctuating our careers and our everyday lives.
When I decided in 2013 to take up my oars again after a year off, very far away from international rowing courses, my number one motivation was the Olympic Games in 2016. But so much can happen in 4 years.
4 weeks later
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- Sunday, 22 March 2015 21:14
First of all, I want to thank everyone for all your support and your messages that helped me a lot in those hard times of life. I couldn’t reply to all of you but be sure that I really appreciate your thoughts. Special thanks to:
One step at a time
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- Sunday, 01 March 2015 17:09
It took me time to write this article. There are some moments in your life that are difficult to talk about or to express. It brings you back to your deep-rooted fear, your anxiety and it shows you how human and weak you can be. For a long time, I have tricked myself into believing that rowing my boat really fast over 2km was the most important thing in the world. My whole life was and is about that ! I made choices with my career at university and at work to live my dream further and further. I seized opportunities to go deeper into this breathtakingly fast spiral of high-level sport where surpassing yourself is the number one rule. For the last 15 years, I thought I had experienced highs and lows.
Row 360 - Patriot Games
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- Saturday, 28 February 2015 01:44
I have the great honor to be on the front cover of the Row360 Issue #4. I had a great interview with Rachel Quarrell (@RowingVoice) where I truly opened my heart on this adventure leading me from London 2012 to the "Heart of Canada" in 2014.
Tough 2015 start...
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- Saturday, 24 January 2015 00:32
Back from Sacramento, California where we were on training for 2 weeks. One goal on that camp : rowing ! That sounds obvious for a rower to row nevertheless I have to say that this was a camp with a lot of rowing involved. We rowed 540 km within 15 days.
Retrospective : 2014 in pictures
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- Sunday, 26 April 2015 18:46
2014 was a year full of events and emotions and it was the year of challenges for me. I like to say that it was the nicest and the hardest season I had to go through. After a year off, going back to training was sometimes physically very tough. The body gets used quickly...to training and to doing nothing ! I had to fight hard to feel fit again but I knew why I was coming back. 2014 was for me a renewal year. New sport project with the French Eight. New project at work with SNCF (French Railway Company). I was highly motivated but aware of all the challenges I was about to face.
Before Christmas
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- Tuesday, 30 December 2014 16:30
It's been a long time since I gave news from my training. The program is really intense and moments of rest are rare and precious.
We came back from California at the end of November after 15 days of an intense training camp. 40 hours of training per week and everyday was a challenge. A normal day was basically 4-5 hours of cycling (around 100km) climbing up and down 2000m of the Malibu « Hills ». Then 2 hours of weights before jumping on the ergometer for 1 hour or sometimes more.
Movember Challenge
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- Monday, 01 December 2014 23:00
Movember is a worldwide challenge whose goal is to change the face of men's health and help fund programs working to improve the lives of men affected by prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health issues.
Looking For Gold
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- Wednesday, 19 November 2014 22:14
A year ago, Cedric Berrest and I were doing a photoshoot for Mamedy Doucara.
My 1st National Championships in Canada
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- Tuesday, 11 November 2014 07:08
My 1st National Rowing Championships were a completely new experience for me.
Welcome on my new website
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- Friday, 07 November 2014 05:06
After years of thinking that I should change my « old fashion » blog which I like for personal reasons, I have decided to finally open julienbahain.com.
3 secondes in Boston
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- Friday, 07 November 2014 05:04
The 50th Head Of The Charles gives me a lot to talk about. As I said in my last post, those days with the Great Sculling Eight crew have been some great moments.
