The crazy stories of the Lac St-Jean Crossingpublished by Éditions de l’homme, recounts different moments of this flagship event at Lake Saint-Jean since 1955, which features swimmers from all over the world, who come to challenge the Piékouagami, between Péribonka and Roberval, over 32 kilometers .
“Demi-gods,” confided Jean-Pierre Girard, met Wednesday afternoon. The launch of his work will take place on July 10, but already, the feeling of happiness is great for the man who animated the Crossing for 25 years, between 1992 and 2016.
“It’s My book with a capital “M”; I worked in my own way and I told my stories, I wrote what I wanted to write, what the Crossing represented for me. It’s a declaration of love,” revealed Mr. Girard, who “always knew” that he was going to write one day about the Crossing. “It was a dream, but to make it a reality, I can’t believe it yet! It’s a great happiness for me,” he admitted.
The arrival of the Crossing of Lake Saint-Jean in Roberval. (Gimmy Desbiens/Archives, Le Quotidien)
His heroes
The love story between Jean-Pierre Girard and La Traversée is long-standing, but above all unwavering. This Robervalois grew up “a stone’s throw” from the harbor, at Place de la Traversée, and his memories of Lake Saint-Jean which came alive, once a summer, are still very clear.
“My childhood memories revolve around the Traversée, I grew up next to the Place de la Traversée, I would see the swimmers training during the week before the event, I would run after them to get their autograph, said Mr. Girard. The Molson company brought in players from the Canadiens like Maurice Richard and Jean Béliveau at the time and I didn’t even look at them. It was Régent Lacoursière who interested me, it was Abdel Latif Abou Heif, it was Horacio Iglesias. They were my idols. For me, the swimmers were heroes and what’s more, they came from far away.”
Petar Stoychev was the undisputed king of Lac Saint-Jean in the early 2000s, winning the Traversée 11 times. (Maxime Picard/Archives, Imacom)
A swimmer himself, Jean-Pierre Girard has participated in various friendly competitions, but he has never dared to challenge Lake Saint-Jean, this inland sea. It is perhaps this great respect that allows him to better appreciate, to better recognize, these extraordinary sporting exploits.
“I find it wonderful to see this and I have always wanted to tell the exploits of these swimmers,” he admitted, opting for a photo of Petar Stoychev on the front page, taken by Vicky Boutin. The Bulgarian has won the Traversée 11 times and this photo was captured during his last victory, in 2011.
An important place for Roberval
If the first half of the book relates the different memories of Jean-Pierre Girard, the second portion highlights these swimmers from Roberval who shone. Those who helped this town in Lac-Saint-Jean become the world capital of open water swimming.
“It’s a phenomenon that is absolutely exceptional, it’s never been seen before. Roberval, a town of 10,000 inhabitants, saw 15 young people from Roberval participate in the Crossing. It’s as if a town of 10,000 people supplied 15 players to the National Hockey League. It’s incredible.”
— Jean-Pierre Girard
Among the most memorable stories, Jean-Pierre Girard thinks of Rémi Meunier, “the 15-year-old float” who crossed the lake in 1978. “He played hockey in the winter, swam a little in the summer while participating in a few events”, to put the author in context.
It was finally after 13 hours and 53 minutes of effort that the young Meunier made his mark.
“This story is unbelievable, that this flo from Roberval achieved this feat. They knocked us all down and it was one of the most beautiful stories of the Crossing,” admitted the former journalist at Radio-Canada, retired for five years. It was at this moment that he began to work more diligently on what would become The crazy stories of the Lac St-Jean Crossing.
The career of Joanie Guillemette-Simard, “the greatest swimmer from Roberval”, third among women in the 2011 Crossing, also occupies a place within the work. Just like that of Sabrina Lavoie, among other local names.
One thing is certain, it is that the memories of Jean-Pierre Girard were not colored by testimonies collected during the writing. The fact is that he made very little use of the heroes he describes during his research work.
“In my career, I have never managed to do a single good interview with swimmers for a very simple reason; when I talk to them, I’m eight years old, he humbly reported. I look at them with my eyes wide open and I lose all my composure. So I didn’t do an interview and decided to tell my vision of things!”
His most beautiful memory
Although the story is full of memories, there must be one that particularly marked its author. Obviously, and the time for reflection is almost non-existent when asked to tell the story. It was in 2014, when Quebecer Xavier Desharnais touched the plate at the same time – literally – as Tomi Stefanovski, from Macedonia. The two swimmers would share the top step of the podium, after a long hour of suspense.
Xavier Desharnais finished tied with Tomi Stefanovski in 2014. This is the most memorable memory of Jean-Pierre Girard’s career. (Guillaume Roy/Archives, Le Quotidien)
“It’s the most extraordinary thing I’ve experienced; to see the two swimmers side by side, with the crowd shouting and both touching the plate at the same time, remembered Jean-Pierre Girard. We had to wait an hour before knowing the winner. When someone came to see me in the rotunda, to give me the piece of paper with the winner written on it, I was the one who made the announcement. I have done many things and interviews in my life, but this moment is not forgotten and it is not bad in my top.
During the 50th anniversary of the Crossing, the late Jacques Girard, who was a journalist for The Daily, had published a book on the first 50 years of the event’s existence. The work of Jean-Pierre Girard is different, recalled the latter.
“It’s not the story of the crossing, it’s very personal,” he said. I talk about how I enjoyed the swimmers, what relationship I had with them, how much I loved what they did. I also talk about my experiences as a facilitator of the Crossing, how extraordinary it was.”
A public launch will take place as part of the festivities for the 70th International Crossing of Lake Saint-Jean on July 25. While waiting for its release on July 10, it is possible to pre-order the publication on the Éditions de l’homme website.
