Sailing: Interview with sailor Alain Julie |24 April 2020
Julie has won the Sportsman of the Year title a record seven times
Julie opts out of attempting Olympic qualification
Seychelles’ sailing legend Alain Julie has revealed that he has opted out of attempting a record participation at the summer Olympics which have been rescheduled to take place next year in Tokyo, Japan.
Julie attested to Sports NATION that he is very confident that he can qualify for the Tokyo 2020 competition in the Finn category similar to the case four years ago at Rio 2016 in Brazil but he has decided to stay put for varying reasons.
“I can guarantee that I would gain qualification in this new category at continental level if I can get three months of good preparation to get me back in the mood which will also require losing some weight, but I don’t think it’s worth it as I will have to convince the association to back me which I have my doubts if it will be entertained. So I will sadly not add to my good record of participation at this Summer games,” Julie told Sports NATION.
Julie is the Seychellois athlete who holds the record participation at the Olympic since he made his debut in Atlanta, USA, 24 years ago (in 1996) at the tender age of 19 and has never looked back since this initiation as his career grew from strength to strength.
“I remember that I didn’t have to qualify for the Games in Atlanta as it was the first time sailing was being introduced at the Olympics and after that, I have qualified automatically for all the other four games and my best result was a 20th overall finish in 2004 at the Athens Games in Greece,” claimed Julie who did not qualify for the 2012 Olympics in England as he had retired from the sport only to come back stronger.
Despite ending his love affair with the Olympics, the 43-year-old sailor has no intentions of quitting this sport which has seen him travel the world over to represent the country with so much pride over two decades.
‘I am not retiring’
“I am far away from contemplating retiring as I can still win races without much effort and if I train more seriously, I will continue to dominate local competitions so I will keep going for a bit longer though I have other plans for the future,” Julie said.
The seven-time Sportsman of the Year is keen to be given the post of national team coach as he wants to raise the level of the sport which he feels is at a stalemate since there is no coach to train our youngsters to fill his boots and follow in his footsteps.
“My dream is to be appointed national team coach as I know I have the right credentials and a proven track record in this area as during my tenure in this role from 2011 to 2016, our sailors achieved good results on the international arena where the highlight was a silver medal for female sailor Chantal Hoffman at the African Laser and 420 Championships in Maputo, Mozambique in 2016 and our team also won its biggest medal haul at the Indian Ocean Islands Games in 2015 in Reunion, but this was not evident at the last Games in Mauritius where I was the only sailor to win gold which was one of our worst results as a result of not having a permanent coach,” Julie claimed.
Producing young sailors
The much-travelled sailor who has even worked as a sailing coach across Europe with the SailCoach company based in Ireland from 2008 to 2011 after gaining his coaching qualification in 1997, also has other reasons why he wants to be installed as the coach of watersports as he wants to produce sailors who can help the country regain its status as one of the leading countries on the continent and on the world scene.
“At the moment, everyone is doing their own individual training which is not right though we have a lot of potential sailors who can do well in the Laser Standard category. But they are not getting the appropriate training and they may feel discouraged and quit the sport so that is why we must make appointing a coach a priority to help in the development of this sport and I am offering my services as long as I’m endorsed officially,” related the current sailing instructor employed with the National Sports Council (NSC).
The African champion also possesses a very impressive curriculum vitae (CV) where he has taken part in all the major competitions and he says he has had many successes on the world stage.
“I cannot pinpoint one thing as the highlight of my career as winning top races in Denmark and Germany have been very special as well as being ranked second overall in the National Championships in France in 2001 was very pleasing, but being ranked 14th worldwide in 2001 was quite a remarkable achievement which I am convinced other Seychellois sailors can achieve if they are well trained,” Julie proclaimed.
‘Put aside our ego’
However, Julie says that with the coronavirus pandemic, it is slowing the start of the watersports season but he is also worried by the lack of unity among the different stakeholders in this sport which he wants to see improve for the betterment of the sport’s progress.
“We must put aside our ego and work together for the love of our sport as we must focus on having a development programme as has been recommended by the NSC to prepare for the next Indian Ocean Islands Games but I think we can even aim for bigger things as long as we organise ourselves with a well worked out plan and start exposing our youngsters in World Junior competitions which will be a step in the right direction as I was inspired to reach greater heights after taking part in three World Youth competitions,” reflected Julie.
As for the current situation where the regional championships have been called off for this year, Julie says that athletes must keep preparing individually until they can get back to the sea when the pandemic dies away.
“Surely it is going to be difficult in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and I hope this break will not drive athletes away from sports though it will be difficult when we resume until a vaccine is found to cure this disease as people will be reluctant to train, mingle with their colleagues and even travel to overseas competition,” Julie believes.
Nonetheless the highly decorated sailor has wise words of advice for his fellow athletes during this lockdown to keep them going for when normality is restored in the country.
“Athletes should never feel discouraged but should persevere with exercising at home on an individual basis as well as watch their diet. In fact it is an opportunity during this lockdown for athletes to show more discipline and to take responsibility for their own training and they can even engage in visualisation training and make use of youtube. But whatever they do, never allow themselves to get bored,” the five-time Indian Ocean Islands Games gold medallist advised in conclusion.
Julie’s Indian Ocean Islands Games gold medals
● In 2003 in Mauritius – one in Laser standard
● In 2011 in Seychelles – one in Laser standard
● In 2015 in Reunion – two (one in Laser standard and one in team racing)
● In 2019 in Mauritius – one in Laser standard
Julie’s results at the African Sailing Championship
● In 2016 in Maputo, Mozambique – gold medallist in the Laser standard class
Julie’s results at the All-Africa Games
● In 2007 in Algiers, Algeria – silver medallist in the Laser standard class
● In 2011 in Maputo, Mozambique – gold medallist in the Laser standard class
Julie’s results at the Olympic Games
● In 1996 in Atlanta, USA – He finished 36th out of 56 sailors in the Laser standard class
● In Sydney, Australia in 2000 – He finished 28th out of 43 sailors in the Laser standard class
● In Athens, Greece in 2004 – He finished 20th out of 42 sailors in the Laser standard class
● In Beijing, China in 2008 – He finished 32nd out of the 43 sailor in the Laser standard class
● In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2016 – He finished 23rd out of 23 sailors in the Finn class
R. J-L.
