ISAF Santander - Upwards path for Austrian women's 470 crew + video

by Luissa Smith, International 470 Class Association on 16 Sep 2014

Lara Vadlau and Jolanta Ogar (AUT) - Ciudad de Santander Trophy - 2014 ISAF Worlds Test Event Jesus Renedo http://www.sailingstock.com

ISAF Sailing World Championships Santander 2014 - Two years ago at the London 2012 Olympics, Lara Vadlau secured the final nation slot for Austria and was the youngest competing helm. Heading into Rio 2016, plans are looking a bit different.

The London 2012 Olympic bug had well and truly caught Vadlau and she relished a new start for Rio 2016. That came in the shape of Poland's Jola Ogar, who also competed at London 2012, finishing 12th with helm Agnieszka Skrzypulec.

Vadlau has trodden an upwards path since the 2012 Olympic Games, where she finished at the back of the fleet and now just two years later is beating the 2012 Olympic gold and silver medallists. It was only in 2011 that Vadlau won gold in the 420 Class at the ISAF Youth Worlds, and the year before won gold in the one-person dinghy event at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010.

Vadlau and Ogar were the headline act at this year's 470 European Championships in Athens, winning gold after a decisive race series. The team are now amongst the frontrunners to stand on the podium at the ISAF Worlds and at the forefront of Austria's Olympic medal hopes ahead of Rio 2016.

It was a chance meeting at what Vadlau described as the 'losers' party' in Perth 2011, that set in motion what has become one of the most successful 470 partnerships on the circuit. At that last ISAF Sailing World Championships in Perth, Australia, the pair were sailing for their respective nations, Austria for Vadlau and Poland for Ogar. Both had qualified to the 470 Women gold fleet, but neither made it to the top Medal Race. It was a chance meeting at the commiseration beach party for the teams not in the medal race that led to the pair chatting and a friendship being sealed. As Vadlau concluded, 'Sometimes you must fall to stand up.'

Lara Vadlau and Jola Ogar (AUT) - 2014 470 Men and Women World Championship © Nikos Alevromytis / Alen Photography http://www.alen.gr

Summing up the past two years, Vadlau said, 'The last Olympics was like a dream that we could qualify and that dream came true. After London, for me it was clear that I wanted to sail with Jola and we did everything to make it happen. We had to convince our federation and convince everyone around us and we had this one year of trying. In 2013, we were vice-European and vice-World Champions, so it became pretty clear that 'those girls could win' together and yeh here we are now. Hopefully we will qualify for Rio. But that will only be a step towards Rio, nothing more.'

Of the 20 nation slots in the Women's 470 event at the Rio 2016 Olympics, 10 of those will be secured at the Santander 2014 ISAF World Sailing Championships. A simple qualification process, will see the top 10 nations on the women's leader board safely in the line-up for Rio 2016. So it is highly likely the pair will be in the Olympic qualification leader board at the very least, with this their minimum target, and a podium finish the second priority on their job list.

If they achieve their Olympic qualification goal, the team are effectively assured of being selected to represent Austria at the Olympics, as there is no other 470 team able to challenge them. Lara said, 'Now for us, it feels like a step towards Rio. What we have to achieve here is a minimum target. The big target for us is Rio.'

Summing up her life so far in sailing, Vadlau gave a big grin before commenting, 'It is an amazing life. I often think how poor would I be if I had finished school and gone immediately to study, and sit and study all the time. And now I have this amazing chance to travel around the world with Jola together and do what we love. I think I am the luckiest person on earth.'

Schedule of Racing:

12-18 September, Laser and Laser Radial
13-19 September, RS:X Men and RS:X Women
14-20 September, 470 Men and 470 Women
15-21 September, 49er, 49erFX, Finn and Nacra 17

470 - Women - Overall Results

Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	Race			Points
Pos	Nation	Sail Number	Crew	1	2	3	Total	Net
1	GBR	GBR 118	Hannah Mills Saskia Clark	(11)	2	1	14.00	3.00
2	AUT	AUT 431	Lara Vadlau Jolanta Ogar	2	(11)	1	14.00	3.00
3	FRA	FRA 39	Maëlenn Lemaitre Aloïse Retornaz	2	1	(8)	11.00	3.00
4	BRA	BRA 177	Fernanda Oliveira Ana Luiza Barbachan	1	3	(16)	20.00	4.00
5	NED	NED 216	Afrodite Kyranakou Anneloes van Veen	1	(10)	5	16.00	6.00
6	CHN	CHN 1261	Huimin Feng Lizhu Huang	5	1	(14)	20.00	6.00
7	NED	NED 6	Michelle Broekhuizen Marieke Jongens	4	(13)	3	20.00	7.00
8	FRA	FRA 9	Camille Lecointre Hélène Defrance	3	(5)	4	12.00	7.00
9	ESP	ESP 27	Angela Pumariega Patricia Cantero Reina	3	4	(26)	33.00	7.00
10	CHN	CHN 619	Shasha Chen Haiyan Gao	6	(9)	2	17.00	8.00
11	USA	USA 1712	Anne Haeger Briana Provancha	(14)	7	2	23.00	9.00
12	CHN	CHN 616	Xiaomei XU Ping Zhang	6	3	(21)	30.00	9.00
13	SUI	SUI 5	Linda Fahrni Maja Siegenthaler	(11)	2	8	21.00	10.00
14	JPN	JPN 1	Ai Kondo Yoshida Miho Yoshioka	7	(25)	4	36.00	11.00
15	NZL	NZL 75	Jo Aleh Polly Powrie	(7)	5	6	18.00	11.00
16	AUS	AUS 99	Carrie Smith Jaime Ryan	8	(22)	5	35.00	13.00
17	CHI	CHI 2	Nadja Horwitz Carmina Malsch	5	(23)	9	37.00	14.00
18	SLO	SLO 64	Tina Mrak Veronika Macarol	4	11	(14)	29.00	15.00
19	ITA	ITA 6	Elena Berta Giulia Paolillo	12	4	(20)	36.00	16.00
20	ESP	ESP 133	Marina Gallego Fatima Reyes	10	(17)	6	33.00	16.00
21	ESP	ESP 14	Bàrbara Cornudella Sara López Ravetllat	8	(10)	10	28.00	18.00
22	CZE	CZE 7	Hanka Chudejova Lenka Mrzilkova	10	8	(11)	29.00	18.00
23	EST	EST 20	Marjaliisa Umb Elise Umb	9	9	(18)	36.00	18.00
24	GBR	GBR 321	Christina Bassadone Eilidh McIntyre	16	(19)	3	38.00	19.00
25	POR	POR 2	Sara Carmo Matilde Pinheiro de Melo	13	8	(24)	45.00	21.00
26	GBR	GBR 812	Anna Burnet Flora Stewart	9	12	(17)	38.00	21.00
27	FRA	FRA 22	Cassandre Blandin Bérénice Delpuech	(24)	16	7	47.00	23.00
28	BRA	BRA 18	Renata Decnop Isabel Swan	(17)	14	9	40.00	23.00
29	USA	USA 88	Sydney Bolger Carly Shevitz	(21)	6	18	45.00	24.00
30	RUS	RUS 97	Alisa Kirilyuk Liudmila Dmitrieva	18	6	(19)	43.00	24.00
31	AUS	AUS 12	Sasha Ryan Amelia Catt	13	12	(15)	40.00	25.00
32	GBR	GBR 865	Amy Seabright Anna Carpenter	19	(23)	7	49.00	26.00
33	RUS	RUS 12	Natalia Ivanova Nadezhda Gerasimova	(22)	15	11	48.00	26.00
34	GER	GER 72	Annika Bochmann Karoline Göltzer	20	7	(21)	48.00	27.00
35	GRE	GRE 11	Dimitra Pagida Alina Stratigiou	17	(27)	10	54.00	27.00
36	GER	GER 66	Annina Wagner Lisa Panuschka	14	13	(24)	51.00	27.00
37	ISR	ISR 11	Noya Bar-Am Rimon Shushan	15	(17)	13	45.00	28.00
38	POL	POL 11	Agnieszka Skrzypulec Natalia Wojcik	15	(18)	13	46.00	28.00
39	ESP	ESP 2	Sofia Toro Laura Sarasola	18	(20)	12	50.00	30.00
40	ITA	ITA 16	Roberta Caputo Alice Sinno	19	(21)	12	52.00	31.00
41	FIN	FIN 2	Julia Toroi Mikaela Wulff	12	20	(22)	54.00	32.00
42	ESP	ESP 6	Alba Bou Serra Julia Subira	(22)	19	15	56.00	34.00
43	JPN	JPN 4321	Yui Matsushita Yuka Tsutsumi	(25)	15	19	59.00	34.00
44	GBR	GBR 838	Jess Lavery Megan Brickwood	16	18	(26)	60.00	34.00
45	FIN	FIN 141	Rosa Lindqvist Rosemarie Hartman	23	14	(27)	64.00	37.00
46	CRO	CRO 111	Enia Nincevic Romana Zupan	21	16	(22)	59.00	37.00
47	ITA	ITA 52	Francesca Komatar Sveva Carraro	20	(22)	17	59.00	37.00
48	CAN	CAN 622	Allison Surrette Alexandra tenHove	(26)	26	16	68.00	42.00
49	UKR	UKR 93	Anna Kyselova Anastasiya Krasko	23	(24)	20	67.00	43.00
50	SLO	SLO 18	Eva Peternelj valentina baruca	(26)	21	25	72.00	46.00
51	GER	GER 24	Nadine Böhm Ann-Christin Goliaß	(25)	24	23	72.00	47.00
52	TUR	TUR 22	Ceyla Yurtseven Ceren Celayir	(27)	26	23	76.00	49.00
53	AUS	AUS 2	Lucy Shephard Emma Barton	24	(25)	25	74.00	49.00
54	HUN	HUN 91	Orsolya Sipos Zsofia Sipos	(27)	27	27	81.00	54.00