Australian Youth Olympic Festival 2007

Gold up for grabs at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival sailing competition

In three days 10 teams from six Australian states – Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia, along with teams from the USA, New Zealand, Canada and Great Britain will compete for the medals on offer in the sailing competition in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF).

Competition will be held in Farm Cove with the iconic Sydney Opera House as a dramatic backdrop for the three days of competition from January 18-20.

The AYOF is an initiative of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) and will be the fourth event of its kind since its inception in 2001. This is the first time competitors aged between 13 – 19 years of age in the sport of sailing have been offered the opportunity to experience the Olympic atmosphere.

The athletes competing in sailing are listed below by Australian state and country:

South Australia
Luke Hookings – Port Lincoln
Georgina Kemp – Port Lincoln
Trent Neighbour - Kingscote
Davin Conigrove - Goolwa
Jasmin Boyce – Port Lincoln
Grace Stokes - Prospect

Victoria
Emma Phillips - Sorrento
Max Taylor - Brighton
Amy Kivell - Mentone
Sam Kivell - Mentone
Ben Gunther - Brighton
Jacqueline Gurr – Aspendale Gardens

Tasmania
Jess Atherton – Kingston Beach
Lauren Holloway - Taroona
Lucy Shepard – Sandy Bay
David Fletcher – West Launceston
Julian Slater – West Hobart
Michael Symonds – East Wynyard

Western Australia
Belinda Kerl – Mosman Park
Chelsea Hall – Shoalwater Bay
David Gilmour - Cottesloe
Luke Parkinson - Beconsfield
Nadia Punselie - Nedlands
Peter Nicholas - Floreat

New South Wales
Edward Quartly – Northbridge
Lachlan Doyle - Killara
Kieran Searle - Maclean
Lilly Taylor - Clontarf
Lucinda Whitty - Longueville
Kimberly Wilmot - Bilgola Plateau

Queensland
Klade Hauschildt - Noosaville
Ryan Stoddart – Murrumba Downs
Nick Peate - Ballina
Erin Gallagher - Ormiston
Renee McCall - Yeppoon
Kerin Callard – Yeppoon

Canada
Oliver Darroch
Emily Hill
Brock Hopemorley
Erin McNeill
Joanne Prokop
Peter Soosalu

Great Britain
Claire Lasko
Mate Macgregor
Matthew Rainback
Benjamin Saxton
Timothy Saxton
Imogen Stanley

New Zealand
Rachel Basevi
Peter Burling
Carl Evans
Stephanie Hazard
Susannah Pyatt
Blair Tuke

USA
Evan Aras
Cam Cullman
Liv Gunnarsson
Tedd Himler
Frances Kupersmith
Elizabeth Whipple

60 sailors will compete in the team racing event utilising an S shaped course with each match made up of six boats. Each race is approximately 10 minutes in time and then the next six teams hit the start line.

Competitors will be using the two person Pacer dinghy and the teams swap boats each time they race thereby enabling fair competition.

“This event offers a fantastic opportunity for competitors to experience an Olympic style event with teams living at a village and dealing with Olympic like situations such as drug testing, an opening ceremony and medal ceremonies. Sailing is making its debut at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival and I hope each of the competitors will take away some fantastic experiences over the five days of the event”, commented Sailing Competition Director Sam Crichton.

The best vantage points to watch the sailing competition when it is in Farm Cove will be around the water front at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair, the Botanical Gardens foreshore and around the Opera House.

The Opening Ceremony will be held on Wednesday 17th January, 2007 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

More Information:

• Australian Youth Olympic Festival website