Oakville’s Liam Bruce and James Juhasz are two of the nine Canadian sailors who will be participating in the World Championships this week, on the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
Heading into this week's regatta, James is brimming with confidence. He had a good result at the World Sailing Hempel World Cup at the 51st Princess Sofia Trophy in Palma, Majorca, Spain placing 53rd, and then after a challenging first couple of days at the French Olympic Week he still pulled off a 66th place finish.
“I’m really showing progress, ahead of where I was last year, so I’m excited. I want to show everybody what I’ve got. It’s time to start proving myself,” he beams.
Meanwhile, Liam frames this event as a measuring stick. “It’s the biggest event of the year. So, it’s a good time to see where you’re at. There’s only one every year. It’s definitely the peak of the season. “
The two sailors have been friends since their youth after they met at the Bronte Harbour Yacht Club. They even roomed together while attending Queen’s University, which not so coincidentally happens to also be the location of Sail Canada, the national governing body for the sport.
It’s that childhood friendship that James feels propelled him to do better, and in turn, he believes has pushed Liam as well, “growing up together going against each other, trying to constantly one up, one another, it really brought out the best of the two of us. I believe that we helped each other get to the level we're at”.
Qualifying for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics is just around the corner and it’s clearly front of mind for both of these athletes.
Ahead of the last Olympic Games, James was able to participate in qualifying but admits there was absolutely no expectation he would qualify, as a first-timer going up against some very experienced full-time sailors, and Liam wasn’t even racing in the Olympics sailing class at the time.
Certainly, for Liam, there is a touch of added pressure, whether he’ll admit it or not. Consider for a moment that his mother was a sailing instructor, and his father was an alternate on the Canadian Olympic team at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
Liam asserts that “it’s an asset, to be able to talk to him, someone who’s gone through that, to be able to talk about everything that’s going on.”
Right now, both athletes are members of the Canadian Sailing Development Squad, which is just underneath the highest tier on the team which is the Canadian Sailing Team.
“It means I get some support from the governing body of sailing. It’s a big deal, and it means that I’m on the right track I guess,” Liam exclaims.
The support comes in handy because it’s not exactly the cheapest sport to participate in, Liam jokes, “it’s not just a pair of running shoes, and you just show up at the track.” While James reveals, “the fundraising part of it is a dark art”.
When the boys aren’t training or traveling between destinations and venues, they are working on their promotions, building their websites and social media content, all in an effort to land the next sponsor to help pay down the near $40,000 a year needed just to cover the expenses associated with competing.
No small task when you consider how grueling their schedule is.
“It really is relentless. It's by far the most amazing experience of my entire life, but it’s absolutely exhausting,” James laments.
He gets a bit of respite by talking to his girlfriend or watching F1, while Liam clears his head with a bit for cycling, though he chuckles it’s technically “still training” and occasionally he gets in a round of golf.
The two will have a few days off following this regatta for the first time in 6 months. They plan on taking full advantage of it.
James can’t wait to get home, “I'm really looking forward to getting to spend that time back at home with my family, and getting to hang out with all those friends I haven't really been able to hang out with for a very long time. You know hearing some familiar accents around is also pretty nice.”
Qualifying for the World Championships began on Monday, May 23rd, and the final race will be on Saturday, May 28th