Profile- Josh Nixon - Young talent – big ambitions
by Jodie Bakewell-White on 12 Jan 2008
Josh Nixon (NZL) 2007 NZ RS:X Nationals - Takapuna Richard Gladwell
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At just 16 years old Josh Nixon, from Takapuna Boating Club is the youngest rider in the men’s fleet at this RS:X World Championship.
To prepare, Nixon has given up his formal schooling choosing to complete the year by correspondence and maximising his on the water training time. Fortunately for Josh, he has the support and encouragement of his family in this decision.
Nixon was New Zealand’s RS:X representative at the 2007 ISAF Sailing Youth World Championships sailed in July last year in Kingston, Canada where he finished a respectable 7th place in a fleet of 21. It was on his return to New Zealand from Canada that he decided to pull out of school and focus on his RS:X training.
'I came home and decided I wanted to give the 2008 World Championships in New Zealand a good crack,' explains Nixon.
'I joined correspondence school to finish my NCEA Level 2 qualifications, which means that I do school work with a tutor every morning and windsurf in the afternoon. My school tutor is very flexible and she fits in around my training times, which usually means that I am at her house at seven in the morning – it is so early that I have to bring her coffee each morning.'
'The deal with Mum and Dad is that we review everything on a six monthly basis. If I am not putting the work in at the gym, on the board and with my studies then I have to go get a job. If my sailing results don’t keep on improving then I will get a job and become a weekend warrior.'
'I believe that focussing on my windsurfing was the best decision that I made during 2007, but the person I ought to thank is my Mum as she was the one who went against her instinct and let me leave. It takes a truly special Mum to do that.'
'Over the last couple of months I have been lucky enough to train with some of the top sailors in the world thanks to Tom Ashley. In these past months I have also become fitter, stronger and grown as a person.'
Stepping into the highly competitive world of Olympic class sailing at 16 years of age is a challenge that Nixon is prepared to rise to, setting himself some realistic goals for the future.
'Since I left school my windsurfing has become three times better than it was, however it has made me realise how good the top guys are,' says Nixon. 'Competing in this open world event at Olympic level where a good proportion of the fleet are 10-15 years older and more experienced will provide a good base for me to work from. I know it will take another three to four years to get to their level, but I will take it one year at a time.'
'My goal is to have some good races that are just ‘blinders’, just to prove that I can get up there and compete with the good guys and also I would like to be the third best New Zealander behind Tom [Ashley] and JP [Tobin].'
For the official RSX World Championship website http://www.rsxclass.com/worlds2008.html!click_here and results http://www.theresults.org/rsxworlds/registrations.jsp!click_here
If you want to link to this article then please use this URL: www.sail-world.com/40798
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