British Sailing Team confirms final Olympic Test Event selections<\/p>\n
Written by RYA | 13 July 2015<\/p>\n
World Champion Thompson and European Champion Shaw round off the 15-strong British team to compete at Rio Test Event<\/p>\n
The British Sailing Team today completed its line-up for the 2015 Olympic Test Event, with newly-crowned Laser World Champion Nick Thompson and RS:X European Champion Bryony Shaw finalising the team\u2019s selections.<\/p>\n
The Aquece Rio International Regatta (15-22 August 2015) is the second official Test Event for the sport of sailing, with a full Olympic-sized team of 15 British sailors set to compete against their international rivals across ten Olympic classes in what is the organisers\u2019 final official dress rehearsal at the 2016 venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo\u00a0have won the European Championships in Mondello, Sicily, is a huge milestone on\u00a0my road to Rio,\u201d explained the 2008 Olympic bronze medal-winning windsurfer Shaw.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoing into the medal race, the points of the top four were super close, so I was delighted to be able to perform under that much\u00a0pressure and win the medal race. As soon as I crossed the finish line the celebrations began as the week had been long and tiring, with everyone having to deal with the drawn out postponements and hot temperatures.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shaw, aiming to qualify for her third Olympic Games, knows how important the Test Event can be in gaining experience of the unique Olympic environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a huge honour to be selected and I look forward to being part of\u00a0the elite, smaller-sized Olympic\u00a0team where\u00a0our resources and attention can be focussed on what it will take to win in this extremely tricky and varied sailing venue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson, who claimed an emphatic Laser World Championship victory last week in Kingston, Canada, said that the Test Event is a key opportunity not only to perform at the Olympic venue, but to practice the build-up and routines that you might expect around the Games itself.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a team I think we\u2019re doing a great job of really trying to treat this as an Olympics.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be spending a similar amount of time out there with a similar build up to it as if it were the Games.\u00a0 Obviously I haven\u2019t been selected for the Games itself yet, but I think it\u2019s a good idea to do a practice run as if it were the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the Worlds that\u2019s been tricky as it\u2019s been quite close to this Test Event, but from now on it\u2019s going to be all about focussing on that and trying to get fired up for the event as if it\u2019s the Games itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
British Sailing Team at the Aquece Rio International Regatta:<\/p>\n
Finn \u2013 Giles Scott<\/p>\n
RS:X Men \u2013 Nick Dempsey<\/p>\n
RS:X Women \u2013 Bryony Shaw<\/p>\n
470 Men \u2013 Luke Patience & Elliot Willis<\/p>\n
470 Women \u2013 Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark<\/p>\n
49er \u2013 John Pink & Stuart Bithell<\/p>\n
49erFX \u2013 Charlotte Dobson & Sophie Ainsworth<\/p>\n
Nacra 17 \u2013 John Gimson & Hannah Diamond<\/p>\n
Laser Radial \u2013 Alison Young<\/p>\n
Laser \u2013 Nick Thompson<\/p>\n
Selections were based on results at a range of international regattas, with selections in eight out of ten classes having been revealed at the conclusion of the ISAF Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland last month.<\/p>\n
The selected British team comprises a mix of established Olympians and international medallists as well as new young talents eager for their first opportunity of an Olympic Games.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m delighted to conclude our team selections for the Test Event, and to do so with a new World Champion and a new European Champion in our midst is particularly pleasing,\u201d said RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith just over a year to go until the Games, the Test Event provides a fantastic opportunity to build our understanding and familiarity of a notoriously challenging venue, and at the same time provides the sailors with the platform and support required to go out and perform on the Olympic waters.\u201d<\/p>\n
via British Sailing Team confirms final Olympic Test Event selections | Home | News | The British Sailing Team | RYA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" British Sailing Team confirms final Olympic Test Event selections Written by RYA | 13 July 2015 World Champion Thompson and European Champion Shaw round off the 15-strong British team to compete at Rio Test Event The British Sailing Team today … Continue reading