SailGP's elite athletes warm-up for racing with the Royal Australian Navy on Sydney's Bondi Beach
by SailGP 21 Feb 23:37 PST
24-25 February 2024
Guy Endean, grinder of Switzerland SailGP Team, Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer, grinder of Germany SailGP Team, Eliot Merceron, grinder of Switzerland SailGP Team, and Anna Barth, strategist of Germany SailGP Team, take part in a Royal Australian Navy training © Simon Bruty for SailGP
Physical training instructors and trainees from the Royal Australian Navy welcomed a cohort of SailGP world-class athletes to Sydney with a navy-inspired training session on the iconic Bondi Beach, ahead of the highly anticipated KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix Sydney this weekend, February 24-25.
SailGP's world class athletes from five nations whom are set to compete in Sydney were put through their paces by the Royal Australian Navy, with a warm up designed to give them a first hand experience of the precision of the Australian Defence Force physical training techniques, offering them a glimpse into the world of Australia's elite military personnel.
Bondi Beach served as the perfect backdrop for the workout where 12 SailGP athletes from Australia, Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and the United States took part in a range of workout drills involving bootcamp-style bear crawls, tyre flips and team relays.
The session highlighted the remarkable synergy between the rigorous training regimes, resilience, and precision of the Royal Australian Navy and those of the high-performance athletes of SailGP. Just as the Royal Australian Navy exemplifies these traits, SailGP athletes also demonstrate a similar demand for precision, agility and split-second decision-making, essential for navigating the cutting-edge F50 catamaran, which can reach speeds of up to 100kp/h.
Australia SailGP Team Driver and CEO, Tom Slingsby said: "Today's training session not only celebrates our league's record fifth arrival to Sydney but also underscores the shared ethos of courage, discipline and excellence that unites us all, and what better place to do it than on Australia's most famous beach!."
"It was challenging to say the least, but it was an incredible opportunity for us to learn from some of the finest, high performing professionals in the world. I hope we can take some inspiration from today and inject that into our races this weekend to hopefully secure our first win of the season for Australia."
Petty Officer Physical Training Instructor Robert Pope said: "It was obvious today that there are many similarities between the high performance of our Navy people and the SailGP elite athletes. It was great to show the SailGP teams a glimpse into some of the Royal Australian Navy's training exercises."
The KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix I Sydney will take place on 24-25 of February, with thousands of Australian fans expected to descend on Sydney Harbour to witness the Australia team compete against nine rival nations.
Slingsby's Australia team will be aiming to extend its lead at the top of the SailGP Season 4 leaderboard, to get a step closer to a potential fourth-straight Championship victory. The event is proudly supported by the NSW Government's lead agency for tourism and major events, Destination NSW.
Final release tickets to the Sydney event are selling fast. To purchase, visit SailGP.com/Sydney.