ROWERS OF THE FUTURE
YOUNG
8
and getting faster
© 2008 Getty Images/Michael Steele
Cedric Berrest and Julien Bahain belong
to one of the top boats of their nation.
the men’s quad is one of France’s
olympic medal hopes. Both Cedric and
Julien joined the boat at age 19, fresh
out of junior international racing.
Cedric made it in time to race at his first
olympics while Julien got in a year later,
in 2005. Since then, the crew has
evolved from a last-place finish at the
Games in athens into a force to be
reckoned with in the men’s quad event.
Their transition from junior to senior was a
radical one, but it worked: “In France, we were
not given the option to compete at under23
level. Either you are placed in the senior or in
the under23 group. At junior level we were
already quite serious and trained hard, so we
were above our competition nationally,” they
explain. “At the end of our first year at senior
level we were already among France’s best
senior rowers, winning medals in the single
at national selection trials.”
were all going in the same direction without
us he couldn’t get anywhere. Rowing with
an Olympic champion boosted my self
confidence and made me what I am today.”
Julien Bahain (r) and Cedric
Berrest (l)
In his first year in the quad, Julien found
himself rowing with Olympic champion
Adrien Hardy. “I was thrown into this crew
and found myself with someone I had seen
on television, someone I admired,” he says.
“Adrien was stronger than me, and yet we
For Cedric, rowing with Adrien played a key
role in his skills development: “Adrien is very
rigorous in training. Every stroke is very, very
important. We had not been that conscious
of the importance of each stroke before.”
As a crew they began climbing the ladder,
finishing a credible 5th at the worlds in 2005
and grabbing silver at a World Cup in 2006,
but then they suddenly plummeted to 10th
place at the World Rowing Championships
later that year. “The results were coming; we
felt we could do it. But going from a place in
the A Final to finishing in the middle >>
