Albéric Cormerais (FRA)

Rising Star  – April 2015

Albéric Cormerais is one of France’s most promising rowers. Aged 22, he first competed internationally at the World Rowing Junior Championships in 2010 and won silver in the men’s double sculls. He repeated that same feat one year later. In 2014 Cormerais became a World Champion at the under-23 level, again in the double.

For these reasons, World Rowing has placed Cormerais on its radar screen and looks forward to watching him race in 2015 and beyond. The party-lover accepted to share a bit more about himself with World Rowing and World Rowing fans in the interview below.

I row because… I was not good enough to become a professional soccer player!

What I like about sculling is… the sensation of the boat gliding through the water, when the crew and the boat are in harmony, when we can row for hours without getting tired. But sweep rowers can feel the same of course!

I currently study… economics at a business school in Paris.

The biggest challenge in combining studying and elite training is… finding time to party.

When I finish my studies… I hope to find an interesting job that allows me to continue rowing at the highest level. I am not sure yet in which area my future career will be.

When I am not rowing or studying… I cheer for the Paris Saint-Germain football club.

So far my favourite success in rowing is… my gold medal in Varese in the under-23 men’s double sculls because after a semester of partying in Budapest for my studies, I only had six months to prepare for these summer championships.

Before a race I always… visualise the perfect stroke I need to win the race. But I’m still trying to find the perfect stroke!

My next goal in rowing is… to qualify for the Olympics Games in Rio.

What motivates me most is… to tell myself that I’m in charge of my own performance and others rowers will not wait for me!

In my fridge you will always find… food the coach does not want to find in a fridge.

If I was an animal, I would be a… pit-bull because I never give up my prey.

On the erg, I listen to… FG Radio, a radio station that plays music you can find in nightclubs. It helps to push harder!

My non-rowing friends think… it’s a shame that I almost never make it to the parties they organise.

In ten years’ time… I hope my weight training program will work and I will pull 5:20 on the erg for the Olympics Games in Paris 2024.