Belinda Stowell named 2019 WAIS Coach of the Year

2000 Olympic gold medallist Belinda Stowell was named WAIS Coach of the Year at the 2019 WAIS Annual Awards of Excellence at the Pan Pacific Hotel, November 14.

It was another oustanding year for sailing with 10 WAIS sailors representing Australia in Olympic boat classes at World Championships, as further evidence of Belinda’s coaching success.

Stowell coached Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries to their first international medal at the World Cup in Japan, in the women’s 470. Who along with Zoe Thompson in the Laser Radial, have qualified boats for Australia at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Zac Littlewood claimed silver in the Laser Radial at the Youth World Championships.

In addition to her coaching she plays a key support and mentoring role to Matt Wearn who has been selected for next year’s Olympics in the Laser.

“This is a great honour thank you to WAIS and the huge team that I work with,” said Stowell

“Success only comes from a huge team and we know that success doesn’t come from just yourself. I have been incredibly lucky to have such an amazing group of athletes to work with, because that is obviously where it starts.

“To have a tremendous support team and the support staff at WAIS, we have an awesome team now and it’s really pleasure to lead that team in every way. We have a very strong group underneath the WAIS program through the clubs and through our relationship with Australian Sailing WA and Australian Sailing.”