Fun? Do you think losing is fun? Winning, that’s my idea of ??fun
Larry Ellison
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–The fact is that I wanted to be an Olympian –Paul Jacquot (28) tells me.
–Is that why you became Swiss?
–My father is French, but my mother is Swiss. I was born in Chalon-sur-Saône, in France. The Saône River passes through there, and the rowers row and enjoy it. Adrien Hardy comes from there, does he know him?
–¿…?
–He won Olympic gold in double sculls in Athens 2004. I wanted to be a little like him. Although, to begin with, I started swimming.
–What does rowing have to do with swimming?
–Nothing, really. But, when I was a child, my mother took me swimming every Wednesday. And I didn’t like it! I was tall, you know?
(He is a giant of 2.04m).
And adds:
–When I was ten years old, a rowing coach saw me swimming at the club and said: ‘This tall boy is good for me for rowing.’ And I celebrated it: I liked being in the water, but not in the water…
–And did you like rowing?
–It’s not that I liked it very much, but I did like competing.
–And did you start to earn a living?
–Not too much either. Rowing is not a popular sport. I combined it with work. I studied in the United States, specializing in wealth management in Zurich. As a rower, I went to the U23 European Championship with France. But there the level is very high, and I wanted to be an Olympian no matter what…
–And he became Swiss?
-That is. In 2018 I changed my nationality. And in 2021 we were ninth in Tokyo in coxless four. Then, the void.
–What emptiness?
–I had already fulfilled my Olympic goal. I went back to work, I opened a startup in Zurich for wealth management. From time to time I would run and do virtual tours with the stationary bike on Zwift. Elite athletes conserve endorphins. We have to burn them! What I didn’t think about was returning to that level of rowing, it had been too much. That fire did not return to me.
–And how did you end up joining Red Bull Alinghi Racing, your team in the America’s Cup?
(The Swiss team appears on the list of candidates for the legendary competition, which will be held in Barcelona between August 22 and October 20).
–As a child, I had heard about Alinghi. And, on Instagram, he followed the Copa del América. In December they announced that Alinghi would be in this edition in Barcelona. I decided I needed to get in. I could push it through stationary bikes, like this one.
Paul Jacquot is sitting astride his bicycle.
We meet on the terrace of the Swiss team headquarters, on the Moll d’Espanya. While I interview him, I drink a Red Bull, energy, energy!
(These bicycles are bicycles and something more: they are propulsion engines of the ultra-modern competition boats).
-And what did you do?
–I wrote to the president of the Société Nautique de Genève, a rowing club in Geneva. I asked him to contact Alinghi. That’s how I entered the selection process. I passed a range of tests and in November they said yes. This January I entered my apartment on Gran Vía and Plaza Espanya.
–And what tests did he pass?
–I can’t tell it.
Secrecy prevails in the Copa del América. The rules are rigorous. Confidentiality contracts are leonine; Nobody knows what the rival who sleeps in the next room is playing.
–And what attracted you to the Copa del América?
–It has nothing to do with rowing! In rowing you can only optimize yourself: the boat is the same for everyone. Here you can improve the equipment, the boat, there are more things than physical work. And I also wanted to come to Barcelona: it’s more fun than the beautiful Swiss mountains. Here there is tapas. There we barely reached 20,000 people.
–Everything he wants he gets! He is an Olympian and is in the America’s Cup.
-Not so fast. If I want something, I will do whatever it takes to get it. But I’ve never done it the first time. I could tell you about many things I have failed at…
-Let’s see…
–I got my driver’s license the third time around. Going to the Games was complicated, they were initially canceled due to Covid. I didn’t get in here the first time either. I had to fight it a lot!
(You see: Paul Jacquot is still in the water but not in the water, as he likes).
