Rio 2016 Games - Australian Sailing Team embarks on road to selection

AST_Rio14_Team-shot - Rio 2016 Australian Sailing Team / Beau Outteridge

NacraBattle_Bundock-Curtis_Darmanin Waterhouse - Rio 2016 © Jeff Crow

These AST athletes are chased by 31 Australian Sailing Squad athletes (ASS, 28 Olympic, three Paralympic), who are also fighting for a spot on the teams to represent Australia at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

All are pursuing the ultimate goal of Olympic and Paralympic glory in 2016 with the aim to defend Australia’s 2012 status as the most successful sailing nation in the World. But selection comes first and 2015 is crucial in terms of demonstrating form through results on the world stage before the team is announced by the Australian Olympic Committee in the first half of 2016.

The Olympic sailing program comprises ten boat classes. Last year the Australian Sailing Team secured national qualification for all but three of the nine Olympic classes Australia is expecting to qualify.

At the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander, Spain last September, Australia secured a spot in the Men’s 470, the Men’s 49er and Women’s 49erFX skiffs, the mixed-gender Nacra 17 multi-hull as well as the one-person Laser and Finn dinghy classes. In 2015 the aim will be to qualify the last three spots of Women’s 470, Laser Radial and RS:X Women.

The official Olympic selection period of first April to 31 May 2016 will now be about determining the individuals to represent Australia in the qualified boat classes.

In the Paralympic classes, Australia qualified all three boat classes at the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. This is the first time that Australia qualified all boat Paralympic boat classes this early in the cycle.

“Having qualified all of our key Olympic and Paralympic classes by this stage of the cycle is a comfortable position to be in. We do expect to qualify in nine classes,” says Peter Conde, Australian Sailing Team Performance Director. “We have a jam-packed regatta schedule ahead and it will be a crucial year for our athletes. Everyone has put in a lot of work over the Australian summer and we are confident we can deliver good results during the European season, which is crucial for selecting our teams for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Olympic Test Event.”

2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Events and Rio Test Event
Most Australian Sailing athletes left for Europe last week with the remainder to arrive over the coming weeks. The ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas, class World and European Championship Regattas will be the highlights of the 2015 season. The first half of the year will culminate with selecting the team for the Rio Olympic Test Event in August where only one per boat class will represent each country.

The Princes Sofia Regatta in Palma, Mallorca Spain (30 March to 4 April 2015)kick-starts the international season and offers the opportunity to those who have not yet qualified for the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Hyères, France (20-26 April 2015) to secure their World Cup spot. To do so, they will need to finish in the top ten boats not already qualified by ranking in the top 30.

The third ISAF Sailing World Cup of the 2015 series in Hyères will be the first major benchmark event and will see all Australian Sailing Team and Squad Olympic contenders compete in France. The ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth (8-14 June), the London 2012 venue, follows the Medemblik Delta Lloyd qualifying regatta in May. Several European and World Championship Regattas in the individual classes fill up a busy competition calendar up to the Rio Test event to be held at Marina de Gloria from August 12-22. See the 2015 events overview here

Men’s Two Person Dingy – 470M
London 2012 Gold Medallist and five-time World Champion Mathew Belcher (QLD)together with dual World Champion crew Will Ryan (QLD)are well positioned going into the European season. They are the current world number one and have been on the podium at every event they have competed at since they started sailing together at the end of 2012.

Over the last few months, they qualified the boat class by winning the World Championships in September, they won the ISAF Sailing World Cup final in Abu Dhabi in November and theCopa Brasil de Vela in December then finished second at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami at the end of January.

The second gold medal for Mat and first for Will is the only aim for the team with all their work and competitions aiming for a peak performance in 2016:

“For all of us, everything, every day we train, every minute and hour, weeks, months, years is all about the Games. The regattas we do give us the opportunity to test things where we need to test, to benchmark ourselves, so we know that throughout the cycle we know where we are at and what we need to work on. And hopefully it will all come together when we need it – at the Olympics,”says Mat Belcher.

On the Men’s 470 Australian Sailing Squad two new crews have recently qualified and they will join Mat and Will and the Conway twins on the European circuit for the EUROSAF event in Medemblik, Netherlands.

Apart from the ISAF World Cups, key events in the 470 will be the European Championships in Denmark at the end of June (27 June – 4 July) and the World Championships in Israel in October (10-17 October).

Men's One Person Dinghy – Laser
Current world number one in the Laser Tom Burton (NSW) is aiming for another strong season and will be closely chased by teammate Matt Wearn (WA) as well as a strong Australian Laser squad coached by Olympic bronze medallist Michael Blackburn. The Australian Laser squad will kick-off their European season in Palma before heading to Hyères and Weymouth in the lead up to their class World Championships in Canada at the beginning of July.

“Obviously it’s a special season with nomination for the Olympic Games a key issue, but at the same time the job doesn’t change with winning regattas being the main aim”, says Tom Burton about the tasks at hand.

Acknowledging the competitive training environment he adds: “It does help to have someone (Matt Wearn) on the same team chasing you so hard and pushing you so closely. And also to have the other guys there gives us the opportunity to train together and simulate a bit of a fleet environment.”

Men's One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight) –Finn
Young guns and Australian Sailing Squad members Oliver Tweddell (VIC) and Jake Lilley (QLD) will both be chasing an Olympic spot in the Finn Class.

At the most recent ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami at the end of January, 21-year old Lilley, who is the current Junior European Champion, was the youngest Finn sailor in Miami and gained himself the title of “rising star of the fleet” after he put in a strong performance all week and finished the event with a bronze medal.

Jake Lilley only joined the class in 2013 and is one of its fastest improvers. With Oliver Tweddell and the rest of the fleet close at his heels, only time will tell whether he can continue this momentum, but there is no doubt that performing well at Rio is Jake Lilley’s aim as he outlines:

“I’ve shown some improvements over the season and I’m happy to go into Europe with where I’m at. It will be a full-on and long season with our World Champs in November and all the upcoming events are crucial on the road to Rio. But selection is not on the forefront of my mind, it’s all about being as best prepared and cementing myself at the top of the leader board this year and to bring home the gold medal in 2016 – that’s our real objective.”

Nacra 17
The mixed multihull catamaran Nacra 17, which will premier on the Olympic program in 2016, will also be one to watch with regards to internal battles in the lead up to the Games as two AST and one ASS crew will be competing for the final Olympic spot.

The mixed multihull made its debut at the 2013 ISAF Sailing World Cup in Miami and has seen a steep learning curve for the entire fleet. AST cousins Lisa Darmanin (NSW) and Jason Waterhouse (NSW) were the most successful Australian crew at the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander winning bronze and were the first Nacra 17 pair to qualify for the Abu Dhabi ISAF Sailing World Cup Final when they took the Melbourne title in December.

But Olympians Darren Bundock (NSW) and Nina Curtis (NSW), who have three Olympic silver medals amongst them, are not far behind and have their eyes set on the Rio spot as well:

“It’s qualifying year and it will be a big year for all of us. At the beginning of last year we were medalling in every event for quite a long time and the aim will be to get back into that position from the start of this season”, says Nina Curtis.

And with the third crew of Australian Sailing Squad’s Olympic medallist Lucinda Whitty (NSW) and Olympic medal winning coach turned athlete Euan McNicol (NSW) also in the mix, the pressure is on to compete against the rest of the world as well as against team mates and training partners, as Nina Curtis explains:

“It’s really tight between our teams and we are trying to find the balance between working together, but with every team also wanting to perform better than the others. We are not feeling the heat just yet and it’s all friendly and a good spirit within the Nacra team. And knowing the human beings in the program, I’m sure there won’t be any issues and we’ll all support whoever ends up going.”

All Nacra 17 crews, coached by Olympic medallist Andrew Landenberger, will race in Palma as a warm-up to the World Cups in Hyères and Weymouth, followed by their class World Championships in Denmark at the beginning of July (3-12 July 2015) before a decision will be made on who will represent Australia at the Rio test event in August.

Women’s Skiff – 49erFX
In the 49erFX, the second new boat class on the Olympic sailing program, it will be equally tight. Australian Sailing Squad’s Olympic medallist Olivia Price (NSW) and crew Eliza Solly (VIC) have been in tight battle with teammates and training partners Tess Lloyd (VIC) and Caitlin Elks (WA) all through 2014. Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks gained the results edge at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander and at the World Cup in Miami over Price/ Sollywho had held the advantage at previous regattas.

Both crews will join the European racing circuit inPalma. In May the two crews will be joined by the third Squad combination of Haylee Outteridge (NSW) and Olympic-rower-turned-sailor Sarah Cook (NSW). The pair teamed up at the end of last year and after a couple of national events, will be aiming to qualify for a spot to race at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Weymouth by competing at Medemblik, Netherlands in May with a warm-up at the EUROSAF event on Lake Garda, Italy.

Men’s Skiff – 49er
London gold medallists Nathan Outteridge (NSW) and Iain Jensen (NSW)are juggling their Olympic preparation with another America’s Cup campaign with their Artemis team but have made their intentions clear on defending their Olympic Gold medal in Rio.

With the addition of David Gilmour (WA), Rhys Mara (VIC) and Joel Turner (QLD) a total of five 49er athletes are currentlyon the Australian Sailing Team showing the depth of talent in Australia.

“It’s great to see our team grow. It’s a really strong training squad we have now and the stronger our training partners, the stronger it makes us”, says Nathan Outteridge about the recent additions to the team. “Clearly Emmett (Lazich, coach) is doing a great job with the team and it is looking good not only for Rio 2016 but also for Tokyo 2020.”

“We feel very well supported”, he added with a smile when asked if he felt chased at all from within their own team.

Women’s 470 / Laser Radial / RS:X Women
Australian Sailing Squad’s up-and-coming talent in the women’s classes of 470, Laser Radial and RS:X have their task mapped out with the aim to try and secure national qualification for Australia in these boat classes.

Young Australian Sailing Squad crews of Sasha Ryan (QLD) and Amelia Catt (TAS) as well as 2013 ISAF Youth Sailor World Champion Carrie Smith (WA) sailing with Jaime Ryan (QLD) will be aiming to secure that spot in the Women’s 470.

The group is coached by 2008 Olympic gold medallist Nathan Wilmot who has re-joined the team as 470 men’s and women’s squad coach at the beginning of this year and who is looking forward to the challenge: “It is great to be with the Australian Sailing Team again. It’s interesting being on the coaching side this time but it’s a nice new challenge.”

It’s been great working with the 470 women and our aim is to get them to the top of the fleet. There is a lot of talent in the teams and it is an exciting time to be involved,” Wilmot added.

Queenslanders Ashley Stoddart and Joanna Sterling will be fighting for Olympic qualification in the Laser Radial and RS:X.

Paralympic classes
In the Paralympic boat classes Paralympic gold medallist and 2014 World Champions Daniel Fitzgibbon (NSW) and Liesl Tesch (NSW) have presented themselves in top form over the last few months by winning both World Cup regattas in Melbourne in December as well as Miami at the end of January.

They are leading the Australian contingent including Paralympian Matt Bugg, who finished fifth in the 2.4mR at last year’s World Championships as well as at the recent World Cup in Miami.

World Championship bronze medallist Colin Harrison (WA), Russell Boaden (WA) and Jonathan Harris (NSW) qualified the Sonar last year and are aiming for top of the podium finishes this year.

Matt Bugg as well as the Sonar team will start their European season at the ISAF Sailing World Cup in Hyères, while Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch will join the team for the EUROSAF Delta Lloyd Regatta in the Netherlands in May.

2015 Highlight for Australian Sailing’s Paralympic sailors will be the IFDS World Championships on home waters at the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria at the end of November (26 November – 3 December)

For more information on the Australian Sailing Team and upcoming events see below and visit website


2015 Australian Sailing Team and Australian Sailing Squad

Men’s Two Person Dingy – 470M
- Mathew Belcher (QLD/QAS) and Will Ryan (QLD/QAS) – AST
- Angus Galloway (QLD/QAS) and Tim Hannah (NSW) – ASS
- Tom Klemens (VIC/VIS) and Tim Hannah (VIC/VIS) – ASS
- Alexander Conway (NSW) and Patrick Conway (NSW)– ASS

Mixed Multihull –Nacra17
- Jason Waterhouse (NSW) and Lisa Darmanin (NSW) – AST
- Darren Bundock (NSW) and Nina Curtis(NSW) - AST
- Euan McNicol (NSW) and Lucinda Whitty(NSW) – ASS

Men’s Skiff – 49er
- Nathan Outteridge(NSW) and Iain Jensen (NSW) – AST
- David Gilmour (WA/WAIS) and Rhys Mara (VIC/VIS) – AST
- Joel Turner (AST –QLD/QAS) and Lewis Brake (ASS – QLD/QAS) – ASS
- Will Phillips (VIC/VIS) and James Wierzbowski (VIC/VIS) – ASS

Women's Skiff– 49erFX
- Olivia Price (NSW) and Eliza Solly (VIC/VIS)– ASS
- Tess Lloyd (VIC/VIS) and Caitlin Elks (WA/WAIS)– ASS
- Haylee Outteridge (NSW) and Sarah Cook (NSW)– ASS

Men's One Person Dinghy – Laser
- Tom Burton (NSW) – AST
- Matthew Wearn (WA/WAIS) – AST
- Luke Elliott (WA/WAIS) – ASS
- Mitchell Kennedy (QLD/QAS) – ASS
- Ryan Palk (QLD/QAS) – ASS

Women's One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
- Ashley Stoddart (QLD/QAS) – ASS

Men's One Person Dinghy (Heavyweight) –Finn
- Jake Lilley (QLD/QAS)– ASS
- Oliver Tweddell (VIC/VIS)– ASS

Women's Two Person Dinghy – 470W
- Carrie Smith (WA/WAIS) and Jaime Ryan (QLD/QAS) – ASS
- Sasha Ryan (QLD/QAS) and Amelia Catt (TAS/TIS) – ASS

Women's Windsurfer – RS:X
- Joanna Sterling (QLD/QAS) – ASS

Paralympic Classes
One-Person Keelboat – 2.4mR
- Matt Bugg (TAS/TIS) – AST
- Neil Patterson (TAS/TIS) – ASS

Two-Person Keelboat – SKUD-18
- Daniel Fitzgibbon (NSW) and LieslTesch (NSW) – AST
- AmeBarnbrook (NSW) and Brett Pearce (NSW) – ASS

Three-Person keelboat – Sonar
- Colin Harrison (WA/WAIS) and Jonathan Harris (NSW) and Russell Boaden (WA/WAIS)