Four 2020 Canadian OIympic team nominees in sailing set to return to competition in Spain

Canadian Sailing Team © Sail Canada

Sail Canada will be represented by a total of six athletes at the Lanzarote International Regatta set to start Sunday in the Canary Islands, Spain. The group includes four Canadian sailors who were nominated to the Olympic team on Thursday: Alexandra ten Hove, Mariah Millen, Will Jones and Evan DePaul.

Ten Hove (Kingston, ON) and Millen (Toronto, ON) will compete in the 49erFX event, while DePaul (Burlington, ON) and Jones (Jerseyville, ON) will take part in the 49er event.

Canada will also be represented by two members of the Canadian Sailing Development Squad, sisters Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance from Chester, NS.

With the start of the 2020 Olympic Games only four months away, Canadian sailors will take part in one of the few competitions that have been able to go ahead in spite of circumstances over the past year. They will also be able to measure themselves against some of the best sailors in the world as many international athletes are currently training in Lanzarote, including home favorites in the 49er Diego Botin and Galician Iago López, who took the 4th place at the 2019 World Championships in this event, as well as Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló, also from Spain, winners of the 2020 49erFX World Championships.

A total of 100 sailors from more than 30 countries from all over the world will take part in this competition.

Thursday, Sail Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee introduced the 9-member team that has been nominated to represent Team Canada in sailing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, slated for July 23rd to August 8th, 2021. Here is the release: www.sailing.ca/nine-sailors-selected-to-represent-team-canada-at-tokyo-2020.

Quotes from the athletes

Ali ten Hove, skipper

"We are really excited to get back to racing as it's been 13 months since we last raced with the international fleet. Everyone has put a lot of work in over the past year and it's an exciting time to see it all come together. Our focus this week is to sharpen up our racing skills again. After one year off, this will be a much needed 'check in' to identify any gaps that we may have leading up to this summer's Olympics."

Will Jones, skipper

"This is the first major event we will be competing in since the 2020 World Championships last February in Australia. It is going to be a really good opportunity to check on the progress we've made in terms of the skills we've been working on, and to run through some processes that we need to fine-tune for Tokyo. We're excited to check off a few more boxes and hopefully get a better idea of what we will need to focus on before the Games!"