Launch of the 2007 Paralympic Sailing Team

by Lara Watts on 30 Apr 2007 Yachting Australia announced the 2007 Paralympic Sailing Team during their inaugural training camp in Rushcutters Bay, Sydney over the weekend.

The six member Team will be lead by Head Coach Greg Omay and consists of Jamie Dunross (Palm Beach, WA), Graeme Martin (Perth, WA), Barry Astwood (Perth, WA) and Colin Harrison (Perth, WA) in the Sonar class, whilst Aaron Hill (Metung, VIC) and Peter Thompson (Canberra, ACT) will compete in the 2.4mR class.

Colin Harrison, 46yrs, started sailing as a teenager in Aberdaron, North Wales in the UK. He developed his passion for sailing on Fireballs and 505’s, however in 1988 cancer in his shoulder lead to a forequarter amputation of his right arm. In 2002, Sailability WA, based out of Royal Perth Yacht Club invited Colin to sail and he has never looked back. Colin has competed at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games (5th) and placed 4th at the 2006 IFDS World Championships. His major aims are to medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games and the 2007 IFDS World Championships in Rochester, USA in September.

Barry Astwood acquired Polio at a young age and always found it difficult to be involved in sport. He started sailing on the sonar class with Colin Harrison through Sailability WA where he finally found his passion. He said 'For the first time in my life I had found a sport I could do and enjoy which involved the outdoors, the sea and silence'. The 55 year old New Zealand born Perth resident has gone onto represent Australia at the 2006 IFDS World Championships (8th) and is now focusing on winning a medal at this year’s event as well as the 2008 Paralympic Games.

Peter Thompson, 56yrs, first represented Australia in 1998 at the World Championships and has competed at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games (4th), Athens 2004 Paralympic Games (5th), 2003 IFDS World Championships (2nd) and the 2004 World Open Championships (8th). Peter started sailing as a teenager with friends and became a Paraplegic due to a car accident. He’s main aims over the next year are to enjoy sailing and run his farm in the ACT.

Jamie Dunross is a Sydney 2000 Paralympic Gold medallist and competed at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games (5th) as skipper in the sonar class. The 41 year old sailor has also had success at world, state and national titles. Apart from aiming to achieve Paralympic success in 2008, Jamie is hoping to complete a solo circumnavigation of the globe.

Graeme Martin was part of the Gold medal crew at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games along with the Jamie Dunross. He will join the Australian Paralympic Team in the sonar class.

Aaron Hill is the youngest member of the Team at 23 years of age. He has competed at the 2003 IFDS World Championships (10th) as well as top placings at state and national titles. Aaron is an above the knee amputee due to cancer, however he was bound to become a sailor as his father ran the local junior sailing club. In the next year Aaron aims to win a medal at the 2008 Paralympic Games and become a first time dad.

Head Coach, Greg Omay brings with him a wealth of knowledge and experience. He has been sailing for over 40 years and coaching for the last eight years. Based in WA, Omay has been involved in many areas of Yachting WA ranging from the Junior Development Program, State Development Squad and is currently coaching the High Performance Coaching Scholarship holders from the Department of Sport and Recreation WA. In 2006, he was the Head Coach of the Yachting Australia Team at the IFDS World Championships in WA and the FESPIC Games in Malaysia.

Greg commented on the 2007 Paralympic Team '2007 to 2008 is an exciting time for the sailors with selection for classes on the line at the 2007 IFDS World Championships in Rochester, USA in September'.

He continued 'Our approach has been to broaden the talent pool within the Paralympic Sailing Development Squad (PSDS) and for current sailors competing for spots within existing teams'.

The next major event for the Team will be the 2007 IFDS World Championships in Rochester USA from 7th – 15th September.

The 2008 Paralympic Sailing Team will be selected by the Australian Paralympic Committee in mid 2008.