Administration of Olympic Sailing needs a Reboot

by Morgan Reeser on 14 Aug 2014 American Morgan Reeser, a two-time 470 class Olympian and an Olympic silver medalist, has been equally successful as an Olympic coach for Greece and Great Britain. For the 2016 quad, he is working with Austria and USA, and shared in Part 1 his observations of the sailing venue in Rio. Here he shares his concerns about Olympic sailing administration…

There is no doubt in my mind that Rio 2016 can be the best sailing Olympic Games ever, with challenging conditions on a number of very different course areas all surrounded by stunning scenery. However, the one thing that can detract from the great performances that we will see at Rio 2016 is the ever growing 'over administration' of the Games.

'The Olympics is such a great event; it is just a pity that the athletes keep getting in the way.' – Olympic official Atlanta 1996.

If Olympic organizers took a step back to reminisce and remind themselves why they originally got involved in the Olympic Games, I would hope it would be to support and witness great athletic performances. Unfortunately, by all appearances, this has been forgotten for the sailing events.

The administrators, from ISAF to the Rio 2016 organizers to the race managers, have taken complete ownership of the sailing competition. The athletes, who are the true owners in this sport, have been taken out of the loop.

The focus needs to return to the athletes, as they are the reason we are all involved. To insure great performances, the athletes must be respected, listened to, and given proper communication of what will happen next. Instead, the athletes are generally treated like mushrooms – kept in the dark and fed dung. Current decisions are poorly thought out, made last minute, and inconsistently communicated.

I had the opportunity in February 2012 to attend the Track Cycling World Cup in London, and tour the facility with the competition manager. The Brits are significantly better than the rest of the world at track cycling, and the tour shared specific details into how the venue was designed and built to effect great performances.

The venue doors are vacuum sealed so there is no air movement at all at track level, the temperature is closely controlled to allow the bikes to run their fastest, and the track is made of a rare Russian super hard wood that continues to harden as it ages, so the bikes would be that little bit faster. Most interestingly was that the finish line was moved on the track for most of the events from midway on the straightaway to the end of the straightaway so that more world records (ie great performance) could be set on that track. The Brits designed the venue not for the spectators, but specifically so that the athletes could have great performances.

Ensuring the sailing venues can provide great performances must be a mandate.

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