WAIS sailors named sailors of the year at Australian Sailing WA Awards

Matt Wearn, Nia Jerwood, Monique de Vries and Michael Compton have been named male, female and youth sailors of the year at the Australian Sailing WA Awards.

After being selected to the Australian Olympic Team for the Tokyo Games, Matt Wearn’s consistency was again on display in early 2020 earning him another win as Male Sailor of the Year. Wearn claimed gold in the Laser at the Oceania and Australian Championships as well as silver at the World Championships. His world championship medal was his fifth in a row.

Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries have been named Female Sailors of the Year. After a strong run of results in 2019 including World Cup silver at Olympic Venue, Enoshima, the pair were targeting a strong 2020 beginning at the World Championships before COVID-19 paused their season. 

Honours in the Youth Sailor of the Year category went to Michael Compton who continues to impress as a rising star of the sport, including finishing second at the Laser Radial World Championships, in Melbourne in March.

Ben Walkemeyer was also named as Coach of the Year for his work with the WAIS laser sailors and WASS program.