WAIS 420 Sailors Impress at World Champs

Western Australian Institute of Sport sailing pair Nia Jerwood and Lisa Smith have finished fourth at the 2015 420 Sailing Championships in Japan.

The Australian national champions contested the world titles recently, accruing 83 points, to sit just shy of the medal winning crews of Spain (Gold – 44 points), France (Silver – 67 points) and Japan (Bronze – 68 points).

The pair is coached by WAIS Sailing Coach Belinda Stowell, who was full of praise for her athletes in what had been a trying preparation.

“It’s a tremendous result for them as a team, having had Nia out of the boat with surgery for four and a half months in the lead up,” she said.

“The regatta was a very tricky one with offshore winds shifting a lot, and long days.”

The combination will eye a transition to the Olympic, 470 class in the future, with their coach, herself, as Olympic champion in the discipline from the Sydney 2000 Games, whilst she also mentored 2008 Beijing Olympic champions; Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson, underlining WA’s history and prestige in the class.