Yes, they’re one-design, Bubb, but not as you’d know it. The Star fleet is lined up on the quay at the 1948 Olympic Regatta in Torquay in the UK. Star gold was won that year by the American father and son team of Paul and Hilary Smart. In other news, the singlehander division (no, neither the men’s heavy nor light singlehander) was raced in Fireflies and won by Paul Elvstrøm
have redefined the standard of what being an Olympian is. This has an adverse effect on the rest of your team, both sailors and support staff.
For the most part, selections are pretty straightforward. You normally have a sailor or team that is a stand-out in each class. Once in a while you get a close call, two sailors who have been trading top performances back and forth over the years leading up to the Games.
Truth is the selectors don’t actually care who goes, as in we don’t care about the name of the person, we just want the better person who has the potential to win a medal. Keeping that in mind makes it easier to be objective. In 2008 the selection panel for each class was made up of three people, each with Olympic experience. Two of us were across each of the classes, and the third was a specialist in that class. As soon as we knew who we were going to select we would announce it, so the ‘trials’ could end early. That allowed the sailor/team to shift the focus from selection for the Olympics, to winning a medal at the Olympics. An important point. There were a few curly ones that we had to deal with. One was to use the 470 men’s slot to send an as yet unproven couple of 18-year-olds. We felt there was future Olympic potential in them and having been to the Games, effectively blooding them, it would pay off. One was a guy named Peter Burling, now the hottest property in the 49er world – in fact, the hottest property in sailing! What would have made this a ‘big balls’ call would have been if there was already a Kiwi 470 team who lacked medal potential whom we passed over to blood a young team for the future. There wasn’t, so we could move freely. But what if that was the case? I would like to think we would have done the same, but there would surely have been an appeal, and our decision was likely to have been overturned. A bigger call for the selectors is non-selection. Not sending anyone in a class that the country has qualified for. In this case you don’t feel your sailors have medal potential, and there is no emerging talent good enough to blood, so you just forfeit your country’s place in that particular class. That place will be picked up by a country that has not already qualified. In the case of the Laser, where they have 46 boats, it will be the 47th country. Of course they will finish at the very bottom of the fleet, just thrilled to be at the Olympics. Makes for an interesting debate: do you fill all your places in the classes because you can, or solely invest in your brightest stars? The case for a country to send someone, anyone, in each of the classes qualified is based around three main points: First: it’s better for the Olympics to have better competition. A Kiwi sailor finishing 12th is better than a sailor from a country you didn’t even know sailed getting 47th. Second: Olympic participation helps homegrown sailing. With their stories of campaigning and their experiences at the Olympics, these sailors inspire their local clubs, schools and all the young sailors and non-sailors to strive to be as good as they can be, and maybe, some day, go to the Olympics themselves. Third: Expect the unexpected. Some people excel in the Olympic environment; others don’t handle the pressure at all well. Past history can give you a hint of who will thrive, but just a hint. In 1992 New Zealand took a chance on Don Cowie and me, for Barcelona. While I had past history at the Games as a crew, winning gold in 1984 in the Soling, Don had none; we were sailing the Star, and I was now the skipper. No one expected a silver medal, but Don and I thrived in the Olympic environment and had our best ever regatta together at an Olympic Games. I have theories as to why that is, but the fact is predicting how someone will perform in sport at a given event is not a precise science.
The feel-good side vs the reality of giving your best sailors every chance to win Olympic medals. Interesting debate. Not sure there is a right answer, but the debate is over for now. Yet to return again in four more years.
q SEAHORSE 23
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