Island Life Magazine Ltd October/ November 2012 | Page 66

ON THE WATER

Sailing towards Rio
The London Olympics, and the
successes we enjoyed on land and
particularly on the water, are still fresh
in the memory.
But plans are already being drawn
up to emulate this summer’s triumphs
when the 2016 Olympics take place
in Rio de Janeiro. And one man who
knows all about how to secure medals
is the GB sailing team manager,
Stephen Park (right).
Just as in Beijing four years earlier
Stephen masterminded the medal haul
our sailors picked up in the waters
around Weymouth and Portland this
summer. Shortly after the Olympics
drew to a close, he and the GB medal
winning sailors – with the exception
of Ben Ainslie - were on the Island to
enjoy a much-needed break at Cowes
Week.
Stephen believes that despite changes
to several classes at the next Games,
the GB sailing future remain bright,
and he believes the Island is the perfect
location for would-be Olympians to
practice their skills in readiness to go
for gold.
He said: “There is a fantastic history
of sailing within the Isle of Wight and
plenty of opportunities for people to
get involved as well as great training
facilities and lots of racing to give
everyone a reason to go out every
weekend to build and develop their
skills.
“Of course if you want to be an
expert at sailing there are no short
cuts. You need to spend thousands of
hours doing it. But as with anything
else, if you are determined enough
to do it and put your mind to it,
then it is achievable. You don’t need
to be anyone special; you just need
application, hard work and dedication.
If you do that, then your dreams can
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come true.”
Stephen sees no reason why sailing
cannot become a real boom sport in
the years ahead, and is quick to point
out that it is not as expensive and out
of reach as some people might think.
He said: “Sailing is often accused of
being a sport that has a high entry
cost. But I have a seven-year-old
daughter who is into lots of different
things, including swimming and tennis
as well as sailing. And to be honest of
all the activities sailing is the cheapest,
especially when you look at it on a ‘per
hour’ basis.
“There are lots of sailing clubs
around the country who are providing
introductory sessions so people

shouldn’t be scared off because it is
not as expensive as many may think.
Sailing really is a sport for all, and
there are opportunities for anyone to
get involved.”
Looking back on this summer, he
reflected: “The London Olympics
were fantastic because the country fell
back in love with sport. We all know
about football, cricket and rugby, but
it was good to see people so passionate
about other sports that maybe they
had forgotten about. We were also
becoming a nation of gracious losers so
the Olympics were a reminder that we
do actually like to win.
“It was fantastic to be part of Team
GB and finishing third in the medals
table. This is a great place to be right
now and hopefully it will motivate
kids to be involved in sport in the
future, which has to be good for health
and education, and all the things that
are a dear to everybody’s heart.”
He added: “A lot of youngsters are
coming into the sport from non-sailing
backgrounds, or who have just done a
bit of sailing on their holidays which is
good to see. As for the 2016 Olympics,
we are already looking forward to the
challenge. We will be disappointed if
we are not in a position to have medal
opportunities in all 10 events at Rio de
Janeiro.”