British Sailing Team confirms final Olympic Test Event selections

by Lindsey Bell, RYA 13 Jul 2015 18:39 BST 15-22 August 2015

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's selections.

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' final official dress rehearsal at the 2016 venue.

"To have won the European Championships in Mondello, Sicily, is a huge milestone on my road to Rio," explained the 2008 Olympic bronze medal-winning windsurfer Shaw.

"Going 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 pressure 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."

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.

"It is a huge honour to be selected and I look forward to being part of the elite, smaller-sized Olympic team where our resources and attention can be focussed on what it will take to win in this extremely tricky and varied sailing venue."

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.

"As a team I think we're doing a great job of really trying to treat this as an Olympics. We'll be spending a similar amount of time out there with a similar build up to it as if it were the Games. Obviously I haven't been selected for the Games itself yet, but I think it's a good idea to do a practice run as if it were the case.

"With the Worlds that's been tricky as it's been quite close to this Test Event, but from now on it's going to be all about focussing on that and trying to get fired up for the event as if it's the Games itself."

British Sailing Team at the Aquece Rio International Regatta:

• Finn – Giles Scott
• RS:X Men – Nick Dempsey
• RS:X Women – Bryony Shaw
• 470 Men – Luke Patience & Elliot Willis
• 470 Women – Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark
• 49er – John Pink & Stuart Bithell
• 49erFX – Charlotte Dobson & Sophie Ainsworth
• Nacra 17 – John Gimson & Hannah Diamond
• Laser Radial – Alison Young
• Laser – Nick Thompson

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.

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.

"I'm 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," said RYA Olympic Manager Stephen Park.

"With 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."

For all the latest news and updates from the British Sailing Team, follow us at www.britishsailingteam.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.