Francophilia

Looks like Marine Dusser will not be the only francophone on the UAA Ski Team next year.  Last week, Étienne Richard signed a Letter of Intent to ski for UAA.  Étienne comes from a small town on the Gaspé Peninsula in eastern Québec, but lately he's been going to college at Université Laval in Québec City, training at Mont St. Anne with the Centre National d'Entraînement Pierre Harvey, and chasing the Canadian racing circuit around.

Anyone who's been on the UAA Ski Team in recent years has been subjected to my stories about Bernie LaFleur, another Québeqois from Laval who was my teammate when I was in college, and one of the most amazing athletes I've ever known.  He had a way of limping and stumbling through time trials, minor races, and medium-size races - consistently not among the top skiers.  But every time the big championships came around, he had a way of pulling himself together and doing amazing things. And every time, you just knew he was going to do something big, because he'd be in his own little world (often in the wax room) for days before the race, so focused that you couldn't even talk to the guy. As I recall, he usually did the same thing around final exam week.  I don't think he even slept during the last week of school each semester. Bernie won the NCAA Championships in 1992.

Anyway, none of that has much to do with Étienne, except for their Québeqois roots.  But I'm looking forward to seeing what Étienne brings to our team.  If you want to find out more about Étienne, he's made it very easy for you.  All you need to do is click on the link at the bottom of this page.



http://www.etiennerichard.com/