As Australian Sailing Team athletes prepare for an important summer of world championships and Olympic qualification battles, they are also being duly rewarded for an outstanding 2019 season at awards ceremonies right across the country.

2019 saw world championships delivered in two Olympic classes (Tom Burton in the Laser and Mat Belcher and Will Ryan in the Men’s 470), as well as many podium finishes across world cup events and major international regattas. 

As many of the team look forward to the summer and securing their places alongside those who have already been nominated for the Tokyo 2020 games, awards season has given team members the opportunity to reflect on what was another highly successful season on the water.

Australian Sailing’s 2019 Male Sailor of the Year Award winners Belcher and Ryan have led the way after their outstanding season, where they secured five international victories on the trot including their fifth World Championship as a team. 

They were recognised by World Sailing when they were announced as one of the finalists for the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award, which was eventually won by triple Optimist World Champion Marco Gradoni.

The duo were named as finalists for the Queensland Academy of Sport Peter Lacey Award for Sporting Excellence and for the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Team of the Year Award, which will be announced at a gala dinner on Tuesday 10 December.

The AST’s world-renowned Laser Class fleet has also featured prominently this awards season, with Burton winning the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) Male Athlete of the Year Award and Tokyo-bound Matt Wearn a finalist for the same award at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) Awards.

Both athletes have also been listed as finalists for the AIS Male Athlete of the Year, with sailing the only sport to feature twice on the list of nominees in that category.

The fleet’s international dominance was led by Head Laser Coach Michael Blackburn, who won Coach of the Year at the Australian Sailing Awards and has also been announced as a finalist in the Coach of the Year category at the AIS awards in December.

Blackburn hasn’t been the only coach recognised, with Belinda Stowell winning Coach of the Year at the WAIS Awards and Carrie Smith winning the Coach Award for sailing at the Victorian Institute of Sport Awards.
Stowell was rewarded in part for her work with the Women’s 470 team of Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries, who capped a stunning rise on the international circuit with their second-place finish at the World Cup Series event on the 2020 Olympic racecourse in August. 

Jerwood was herself awarded one of two Wally Foreman Foundation scholarships by WAIS at the same awards ceremony.

The future of the sport is bright, with 2019 Narca 15 Youth Sailing World Championships gold medallists Will Cooley and Bec Hancock adding the NSWIS Junior Athlete of the Year award to the Australian Sailing Youth Sailor of the Year Award they won last month.

Australian Sailing would like to express a sincere thanks to our network partners across the country, who contribute so much to helping develop the next generation of Australia’s international sailing stars.