Two members of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, Nathan Outteridge and Nicky Bethwaite, have been named in the 2008 Australian Olympic Team – although Nicky’s participation is subject to a medical assessment early next year.
Nicky is recovering from breaking both arms in a bike riding accident but says she is confident of being fully fit to skipper an Yngling keelboat at the Olympic sailing regatta at Qingdao next August.
At 53 years of age, Nicky is a senior member of the 2008 Australian team. She first represented Australia at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988 in the 470 dinghy class for women.
Introduction of the Yngling class for the 2004 Athens Games sparked renewed Olympic interest for Nicky, an active member of the RSYS Yngling fleet. She placed 13th at Athens and is determined to better this result with her crew of Karyn Gojnich (who was her 470 crew for the Seoul Olympics) and Angela Farrell.
The crew finished a commendable 10th at the ISAF World Championships 2007.
Nathan Outteridge will sail with Ben Austin in the 49er high-performance dinghy class at the Beijing Olympic Games, a class designed, incidentally, by Nicky Bethwaite’s brother Julian with considerable input from her father, Frank Bethwaite.
Nathan and Ben at the ISAF Worlds in Cascais this year
Her other brother Mark, also a Squadron member, recently won the Laser Grand Masters World Championship in Spain.
This will be the first Olympics for Nathan Outteridge, but he says he is ready and focused. “I have done so many overseas competitions in which I have learned so much,” Nathan said yesterday.
Over the past two years Nathan and Ben have achieved many impressive results on the international 49er class circuit, including the bronze medal at the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
The Australian Olympic team, announced yesterday by the Australian Olympic Committee includes all classes except the Laser Radial class, which will be announced shortly.
Making his first Olympic appearance will be Iain Murray, one of the biggest names in Australian yachting.
Iain’s remarkable sailing career began with a record six consecutive 18ft skiff world titles and went through to being project director/design team and helmsman for the Kookaburra syndicate for the 1987 America’s Cup defence and the subsequent design of many successful offshore racing yachts.
With the team including five current world champions, the Australians are expected to produce several medals at the Beijing Olympics. Other members of the team are:
Women’s 470 class: Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson (WA).
Men’s 470 class: Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page (NSW)
Laser: Tom Slingsby (NSW)
RS:X women’s sailboard: Jessica Crisp (NSW)
Tornado catamaran: Darren Bundock (NSW) and Glenn Ashby (Vic)
Star keelboat: Iain Murray and Andrew Palfrey (NSW)
Finn dinghy: Anthony Nossiter
- Peter Campbell
Close Window »
|
