WAIS Women Ready For Sailing World Champs

Published On: 19 August 2009

Tessa Parkinson (leaning out) and Elise Rechichi will be in competition for the first time since their gold medal win in Beijing

WAIS head sailing coach Belinda Stowell is finalising preparations for the Australian women’s 470 class sailing athletes ahead of next week’s World Championships in Denmark.

Olympic champions in this class, Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson will be competing in their first major international event since last year’s Beijing Games, whilst young WAIS pair Stacey Omay and Chelsea Hall will be keen to make a reputation for themselves after impressive results over the last six months.

Stowell – who herself won gold in 470 event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics – arrived in Copenhagen last week and has wasted little time in preparing the girls for a tilt at world championship glory.

“We are all in Copenhagen in preparation for the Worlds which start next week. Stacey, Chelsea, Elise and Tess have all been training well with the rest of the 470 sailors from NSW and VIC,” Stowell said.

“Victor Kovalenko (AIS head sailing coach) and I will be coaching together here, and I am working with the Women’s teams, which are all WAIS athletes”.

The crews have been busy getting used to the conditions in Denmark which Stowell described as a mix of good swells and good fun.

“We have had some great training days in sunny but windy Rungsted which is 28 km north of the city centre. The conditions are choppy and mostly off shore winds which are shifty,” Stowell said.

“There was a good swell on one of the days which was really good fun on the down winds with some great surfing done. We have had some windy days which have been great for training and getting the time on the water required for good preparation.”

Despite the world title being up for grabs, the Australian camp has been training alongside other nations to prepare for the tactical racing side of the 470 class.

“We have had races with the Japanese who are sailing very well, and the French and British girls teams are also out racing with us which is fun. The Dutch teams were here when we arrived but have since gone home for a week, and the German teams are on a similar program,” Stowell confirmed.

Stowell stopped short of offering any tips but confirmed preparations were culminating nicely.

“Both Australia’s girls teams are doing well and Elise and Tessa are enjoying being able to focus on their sailing again after a good spell out of the sport following Beijing,” she said.