The day after his first Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, kayaker Pierre-Luc Poulin questioned himself. “I think we all take a moment to reflect after the Games to understand what just happened and look ahead. I asked myself what was coming for me.” The answer led him… to another type of boat. While continuing his career as a kayaker, he became a harbour tug sailor a little over a year ago.
Met at his workplace, at Groupe Océan in the Port of Montreal, Pierre-Luc Poulin is in his element: on the water. “When we cast off, we work as a team with the mechanic and the captain, we go on a mission. We are in an outdoor setting, in nature. We have a very powerful machine with which we must become one. It’s a bit the same when I’m in my kayak.”
Thinking about your future
When he finished the 500 metres in the Canadian team’s K4 in Tokyo, Paris was still far away in his mind. “I had to learn to love the dream of Paris, but I knew that one day it would be behind me. All that would be memories, pride, hours of work, but what will define my future?”
He then decided to look for a career that would allow him to think about his future, beyond his athletic career. “Athletes are very performance-oriented people. It’s natural to think that if you want to succeed, you have to train more. But sometimes, it’s just a matter of taking a step back to see what you’re missing to be well and happy.” At 28, he also feels the need to think about what awaits him after his athletic career, even though he’s at the top of his game. Going from a life as a full-time athlete to working in another profession can be a brutal change. “I think the magic word is transition.”
Few athletes around him have chosen to have a job during their Olympic preparation. But this balance has allowed him to be more mentally stable, he notes. And his performances do not suffer: he achieved his personal best times in May.
Funding, not always sufficient
On July 4, the Government of Canada announced an investment of $55 million over the next two years for athletes. This should result in an increase of approximately 25% in the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP). High-performance athletes currently receive $1,765 per month, and $1,060 for developing athletes.
But that’s not enough to build a future. “Relying solely on funding from the Canadian government is extremely difficult. We have no choice but to find other sources of income to finance our sporting goals,” says Pierre-Luc Poulin.
The kayaker explains that while the sport allows athletes to experience a host of strong emotions, financially they must be careful. “Between Tokyo and Paris, I acquired great maturity and I made room for something other than kayaking,” explains the man who is eager to fully experience his next post-pandemic Games.