Carrie Smith Earns Rio Ticket
Western Australian sailor Carrie Smith has earned selection for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games after the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) this afternoon announced the crews to contest the women’s 470 and laser radial classes.
Smith will make her Olympic debut in Rio, competing in the 470 (two-person dinghy) alongside her crew, Jaime Ryan (QLD) who will similarly represent Australia at Olympic level for the first time.
21 year-old Smith is a member of the Fremantle Sailing Club and holds a scholarship with the Western Australian Institute of Sport where she has been nurtured by coach Belinda Stowell, herself an Olympic champion in the 470 class, at the Sydney 2000 Games.
Western Australia’s pedigree in the event was also embossed in Beijing in 2008, when WA sailors Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson won gold for Australia in the waters of Qingdao.
Smith took up the sport when she was just two-years-old. Little did she know almost two decades later she’d be representing her country at the Olympics.
“It is very special to be attending our first Olympic Games. It’s something I have dreamt about since I was a little kid receiving my first ever boat,” Smith said.
“I started sailing when I was very young so my aim was to just enjoy it and have fun… I’ve always enjoyed being out there and competing.”
The pair, who will be coached in Rio by Olympic gold medallist Nathan Wilmot, were fierce rivals growing up competing in the 420 class but since pairing up two years ago have become a force to be reckoned with.
“Jaime and I were rivals in the youth classes which is very funny. We have good memories and I think that makes us stronger and bond more as a team, it made us better sailors and good friends so something to look back at now and have a laugh,” Smith said.
“There have been some tough times throughout the journey but I just remembered they make you stronger as an athlete and as a person so to keep learning and keep experiencing everything because in the end it will pay off.”
The duo struggled through part of 2014 and 2015 after Fremantle-born Smith was sidelined for around 12 months due to complications from stomach surgery. Not deterred from their Olympic dreams, they focused on training out of the water with theory study, research on venues and reading about strategy and boat set up, ultimately securing a quota spot for Australia in the class at last year’s World Championships.
“It honestly makes me extremely proud that I can look back at that horrible time and see the hard work and determination pay off. It would’ve been easy to give in but here we are and I’m only looking forward. Happy, healthy and sailing hard,” she said.