Littlewood Earns World Championship Bronze

Zac Littlewood is maintaining a measured approach after announcing himself on the international stage by becoming one of the youngest Australians to secure a podium finish at a major regatta.

The 16-year-old from Perth sailed beyond his years at the Laser Radial World Championships in Medemblik, the Netherlands, surprising the world’s best to secure a third place finish.

Just two days before the open event started, Littlewood finished 10th from 280 entrants at the Youth World Championships and came second in the U17 Division. With the confidence gained from his results at the Youth titles, he took his form onto the open stage with excellent results.

“Being the youngest person competing in the event made it even more exciting when I started having some good races, especially two race wins by a reasonable distance,” Littlewood said of the senior regatta, which was won by five-time World Champion Marcin Rudawski of Poland.

“After a tough first day I had to remain consistent and focused as I couldn’t afford any more bad races. Even though the fleet at the men’s worlds was smaller (than the youth fleet), the competition was just as hard as the sailors were more experienced and strategic.

“Going into this event it was more about learning and gaining international experience, so I’m really stoked with my result.”

Littlewood, who sails out of Fremantle Sailing Club and Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club – and was accepted into the Western Australian Institute of Sport earlier this year – said his goal was now to qualify for the Australian Sailing Youth Team at the Australian Youth Championships in Queensland next January.

Longer term, Littlewood will look to advance into the laser class, made famous in recent years of Australian sailing through Olympic champions Tom Slingsby (London 2012) and Tom Burton (Rio 2016).

In the women’s Laser Radial World Championship, WA sailors Zoe Thomson and Elyse Ainsworth competed in the silver fleet, finishing fifth and ninth respectively.

The 470 Junior World Championships in Japan will take prime focus this week, with athletes competing at the venue of the 2020 Olympic Games in Enoshima.

– with Australian Sailing