Gold in sight
After five days of competition, Australia’s Olympic sailors are finding the course at Tokyo 2020 for a potential medal finish.
30 July 2021
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Few things are more satisfying at an Olympic regatta than seeing back-to-back first-places, which is what we saw with Mat Belcher and Will Ryan in the Men’s 470 yesterday.
“Today was one of those days where it felt like we sailed really well and did what we are capable of doing,” Ryan told Australian Sailing.
“Mat did a really good job of keeping us fast through all the racetrack on a pretty changeable day. He and I are working on a united strategy, one where we always challenge each other to make sure you are getting the best out of each situation.”
“Risk management on a day like today is the other big one. It was a really large course, so a lot of separation with a few unfamiliar faces leading the pack at times. It really showed the volatility, but we are happy with today and ready to move on.”
But while both Belcher and Ryan have managed to find success so far in the competition, the general positioning of Australia’s sailors at these Olympic Games is undeniably positive.
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Matt Wearn, Australia’s representative in the Men’s One Person Dinghy (Laser) has overcome a shaky start to place first overall in the competition so far, winning yesterday’s Race 5 and 6.
“You’re never going to feel bad coming off the water after two wins,” Wearn said to Australian Sailing.
“There was a bit more breeze today which made for great sailing. It felt like I had underperformed earlier in the week, so it was nice to be able to go out put together some performances like I would expect myself to do.”
“You get days like that which Australians absolutely love with a bit of breeze and some nice waves,” he concluded. “It was nice to unleash a bit of speed and do what I want to do. I had a couple of good starts, which helped set up my races, but I know that there is still plenty of racing left.”
Fremantle Sailing Club’s Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries equally find themselves in a tightly contested Women’s 470 series, placed 11th overall and inside a large group all vying for contention for the medal race.
“It was definitely quite tough and challenging with the wave state, and we had a lot of seaweed out there as well today,” noted Jerwood to Australian Sailing.
Australia’s Rio 2016 Nacra 17 silver medalists, Jason Waterhouse and Silver Darmanin, are moving for a potential repeat performance in Tokyo, sitting in overall sixth place after six races at Enoshima. Similarly, Will and Sam Phillips, our Men’s 49er representatives, find themselves in overall eighth – their 13th and 17th placings yesterday averaging out their strong performances from the day before.
“It was funny because we had quite a few holes on the course, and unfortunately we seemed to find most of them,” said Sam to Australian Sailing.
“It was a course bias type of day, and we just got a few wrong.”
Jake Lilley’s Finn performance in conditions he described as “brutal” has left him in overall eighth place, and Mara Stransky still finds herself in the top 20 at her debut Olympic Games despite her disqualification in Race 7 yesterday.
A full list of Tokyo 2020 results can be seen here, while all the sailing action from today, scheduled for 1:05pm AEST, all of which will be streaming live on 7Plus.
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