Zoe Thomson makes a splash in Spain
WAIS Sailor Zoe Thomson delivered a breakthrough performance in the lead-up to Paris 2024, winning silver at the recent Princess Sofia Trophy regatta in Palma de Majorca, Spain.
The 25 year-old was second in the ILCA 6, a personal best international performance, highlighting her intentions for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
“It feels good. It has been a lot of hard work with the whole squad to start getting some results all together” says Thomson. “It feels like validation of all that effort to be on the podium.” Thomson got off the line in second place and held that until the end to finish behind only the Netherland’s multi-Olympic medal winner, Marit Bouuwmeester. The West Australian’s regatta result included a race win, as well as many other top ten results.
Fellow Olympic contender Elyse Ainsworth finished 12th and is still well positioned to challenge for the single Olympic qualification spot. Matt Wearn OAM was third in the ILCA 7 Medal Race to finish in seventh place overall. The Tokyo Gold Medallist spent most of 2022 side-lined with illness. A strong, 11-race campaign that included a race win offers plenty of areas to focus on for the rest of the busy season, which includes the Olympic Test Event from July 7 to 16. Wearn is staying positive, even though he didn’t meet his pre-meet expectations
“Actually quite disappointed with the end result, I felt like I sailed well all week, and just a couple of unfortunate errors that cost me” he said. “It’s an ok result at the end of the day, but I didn’t come here to finish seventh, the upside is we have a lot we can work on going forward, and we aren’t too far from the top”.
There is plenty more to get excited about in Sailing, with Coach Matt Jerwood enthusiastic about what WAIS athletes can achieve with Paris on the horizon. Jerwood believes there have been significant learnings in Palma that continue to build excitement and momentum throughout the entire team.
“We are positioned well at this point, especially as we head towards affirming Olympic qualification spots at the 2023 World Sailing Championships” he said. “Lili McAullay preparing for the under 19s in Poland and Nia Jerwood teaming up with Conor Nicholas in the kite foil are just a few of the many athletes that are doing everything right to be in serious Olympic contention”.
WAIS Sailor Zoe Thomson