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Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel

  • 71 Boulevard du Général de Gaulle, Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat , 06230, France
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Pierre-Antoine Guilhem

Private Coach & Swimming Instructor

“Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat is a wonderful place for practicing any sport. We can customise training using the landscape around us and adapt a program to any level.”

 

Four Seasons Tenure

  • Since 2017
  • First Four Seasons Assignment: Current

Employment History

  • Hotel La Voile d’Or, St. Jean Cap-Ferrat; Thermes Marins Cannes, France; CREPS, Sud-Est Boulouris, France; Service des Sports, Ville St. Raphael, France

Birthplace

  • Bergerac, France

Education

  • Sports Educators Certificate of Swimming Activities (BEESAN) and Professional Patent of Gymnastic Activities of Form & Strength (BPAGFF), Sport Expertise and Performance Resource Centre (CREPS), Sud-Est Boulouris, France

Languages Spoken

  • French, English

There are many ways for guests to get active and stay fit while vacationing at Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, A Four Seasons Hotel. For many, the best way starts with Private Coach Pierre-Antoine Guilhem.

Take a swimming lesson, for instance, with Guilhem in the sparkling pool overlooking the rocky coast of the Mediterranean from Club Dauphin. “My approach is to invite clients into the pool with me to reassure them so they feel comfortable with the water,” he says. “I try to connect to give them confidence not only in themselves, but in me.”

Guilhem’s swim clients are “anybody and everybody, from kids to CEOs and celebrities.” Some are already capable swimmers; others are not. His first step is always to help them move without difficulty, with everything from getting them used to the feel of water on their face to retraining them to a higher level of technique. Either way, there is high demand for swimming lessons at every level. “The pool here is just amazing. I really can’t think of a better place to learn.”

Guilhem has also teamed with the Hotel’s Spa Director to create a unique Open-Water Swimming Program that offers training at prime coastal locations around Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat. Not comfortable in open water? No problem, he says. “We plan every program based on individual ability. Open-water swimming is a good way for guests to overcome fears and enjoy the beauty of the Mediterranean.”

He further collaborates with experts at Le Spa to create customised fitness programming combining, say, indoor/outdoor cross training with nutritional advice, anti-aging LPG treatments, and massage for recovery. As in the pool and the sea, connection is essential, as Guilhem goes “deep” to discover the level of training guests are used to and what they’re expectations are.

Whatever the activity, the Hotel and Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat are marvellous for training, with coastal beauty providing an exquisite backdrop for running, cycling, swimming and more. “Saint-Jean Cap-Ferrat is a wonderful place for practicing any sport. We can customise training using the landscape around us and adapt a program to any level.”

Guilhem hails from a sports family, each with their own passion. Growing up in Bergerac along the Dordogne River in southwest France, he focused on swimming and running and spent a year practicing football – though that didn’t take. “Every boy had to do a year. Football just wasn’t my thing.” Then, at age 11, he entered and won a triathlon and found his thing. “It was a revelation: I had all the building blocks in place to be a success.”

He climbed quickly, joining a triathlon club, excelling to the Elite level, and turning professional. But an injury put an early end to his high-level racing career and Olympic dreams. “I had to think about what I wanted to do: I still loved sports, but I couldn’t compete.”

So he turned his attention to training, studying at an elite international training centre in Sud-Est Boulouris and spending roughly 40 hours a week supervising young talent in tennis, triathlon, and more to transmit his passion into results. After opportunities coaching at other hotels, Guilhem joined Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in 2017.

Guilhem’s current role is about more than encouraging people to be fit and active on holiday. “I want give our guests easy tools to continue training long after they’ve left us,” he says. There’s a special feeling of well being that comes with surpassing oneself and moving to the next level in sport. “Getting guests to their personal peaks is my reward.”