The first batch of Kiwi sailors has been named for this year’s Paris Olympics, and among them are some fresh faces and a veteran finally getting his shot — but not two of Aotearoa’s most decorated sailors.
Five sailors were announced to the New Zealand Team at a ceremony at Auckland’s sunny Narrow Neck Beach yesterday — the perfect backdrop for what is hoped will be more sailing medals later this year.
Tom Saunders (ILCA 7), Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (Nacra 17), and Veerle ten Have and Josh Armit (iQFOIL) have all earned the fern with four more sailors to be named at a later date in the 49er and 49er FX classes [two each].
Ten Have and Armit join in the new windfoiling event — a fast-paced discipline where speeds of over 50km/h can be reached as they fly across the water.
"The first time I gave it a go, the first time I was like, 'this is sick',” ten Have told 1News.
“Everyone in that world sees it the same way and all of us are on the same froth level going, 'oh, this is so epic'."
Ten Have’s journey to this year’s Games has been particularly epic, having previously been into horse riding until her horse suffered a broken pelvis, leaving her spare time to try something new, which ended up being windsurfing through her brother.
The 23-year-old quickly climbed the ranks in New Zealand but narrowly missed out on the Tokyo Olympics in the RS:X windsurfing class, leading her to switch to the relatively new iQFOIL class in late 2021.
Two national titles and impressive international results later, she’s now an Olympian in waiting.
“I think there’s always things where some bad things happen and then you go, ‘oh man, this is happening’, but I think often they lead to greater things and my dad taught me that,” she said.
"There's a lot of things that have happened to lead me here, and I’m grateful they happened even though they might seem bad in the moment."
Even more has happened for new teammate and former world champion Tom Saunders, whose road to the Games has been a long one.
The 31-year-old was selected in the highly competitive ILCA 7 [also known as the Laser class] after missing the last two Olympics to 2016 bronze medallist Sam Meech.
Then, heading into this year’s Games, he had to battle to the bitter end to earn his spot ahead of up-and-comer George Gautrey.
But a fifth-place finish at the ILCA 7 World Champs in February, where Gautrey finished 15th, was enough to get him over the line.
“We’re cursed with a great sailing nation and we’ve always been pretty strong in the ILCA 7 class which has pros and cons,” Saunders told 1News.
“But there’s a lot more pros — we push each other. Sam Meech before me for Rio and Tokyo and George for this cycle really stepped up and we went all the way to the end. Without those guys, we wouldn’t be as good as we are.
“But then catch-22, only one of us can go which is pretty difficult.”
Saunders said finding out about his selection was an emotional experience.
"The first emotion was relief," he said.
"I've been trying for 12 years now, this is my third campaign… it was pretty emotional to get that call to say that you've been selected and to share that particularly with my family - they go through the highs and lows as much as we do."
Saunders and the rest of the team are now looking to continue the highs of Meech and others who have made sailing New Zealand's third most productive Olympic sport [23 medals overall, nine golds]. That success is in part due to Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, who have won two golds and a silver in the 49er class at the last three Games.
But the pair have a congested schedule this year with the America’s Cup as well as the SailGP, leading them to make the tough call to step away from the Olympic stage.
Saunders said those heading to Marseille, where the Paris Olympics sailing events will be held, will carry on what the duo have done for over a decade.
"They were the face of the sailing team for 12 years. We always looked up to those guys, so I'd love to carry that torch."
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