Beijing 2008 Medalist Julien Bahain Remains Undefeated at the Western Canadian Beach Sprint Championships

With another win in the men’s solos this past weekend in British Colombia, Canada, former French Olympian Julien Bahain extended his undefeated record at the Western Canadian Beach Sprint Championships. The regatta was first held in 2022, and Bahain has won the men’s solos five times straight. He says he has a beer in his fridge ready for when someone beats him, and so he’ll now have to wait at least one more year before opening it.

During his career with the French national team, Bahain won two world championships in the men’s double and a bronze medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in the quad. After a second Olympic Games with France at London 2012, he moved to Canada and switched to compete for his new home country at Brazil 2016. And then two years later, he would go on to win a gold medal in the men’s double for the Netherlands at the World Rowing Coastal Championships. (Although those championships were held in Victoria, Canada, and because rowers compete for clubs rather than national selections at coastal worlds, there aren’t rules on nationality.)

Bahain added a second win in the mixed doubles event with Carling Zeeman, another former Olympian. Zeeman represented Canada in the women’s singles at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, and won a world championship silver medal in 2013. She also raced, and won, in the women’s solos this past weekend.

Given they will be Olympic events in two years’ time, the senior men’s and women’s solos and mixed doubles at the Western Canadian Beach Sprint Championships expectedly had the highest level of participation, with 13, 14 and 8 boats, respectively. These categories also offered CA$500 per rower for the winners (the mixed double shared CA$1,000). However, there was a decrease in the number of boats signed up this year, dropping from a total of 56 in 2025 to 47, and as a result, some events that were included last year weren’t held this year. But it was the first time the University of Victoria competed, which could hold promise for the future.

The complete podiums from the Western Canadian Beach Sprint Championships, hosted by Open Aviron Rowing Coastal Association, were:

CW1x:

1. Carling Zeeman – Sudbury
2. Riley Richardson – Rowing Canada Next Generation
3. Kiersten Mort – Nanaimo RC

CM1x:

1. Julien Bahain – OARCA
2. Simon Whittaker – University of Victoria
3. Oliver Baker – Western Ontario

CW2x:

1. Carling Zeeman, Katie Steenman – Rowing Canada/OARCA
2. Bethany Nordstrom, Madeleine Lauriault – Victoria City/Ottawa
3. Riley Richardson, Ella McKinley – Rowing Canada Next Generation

CM2x:

1. Yechan Kim, Joshua Gant – University of Victoria
2. Matthew Dowdle, Max Ord – University of Victoria

CMix2x:

1. Carling Zeeman, Julien Bahain – Sudbury/OARCA
2. Lexi Schimnowski, Simon Whittaker – Winnipeg/University of Victoria
3. Novella Rusman, Oliver Baker – Rowing Canada/North Star

U19 CM1x:

1. Theodore Difelice-Oinonen – Mount Doug
2. Ronan Maher – Next Level Rowing

Masters CM1x:

1. Rachel Egner – Allies with Oars
2. Logan Fink – Allies with Oars

Masters CMix2x:

1. Logan Fink, Rachel Egner – Allies with Oars
2. Brielle Hutchison, Mark Hutchison – Deep Cove