Australian Sailing has announced the members of the Australian Para Sailing Squad who will receive competition support for the 2018 Para World Championships in Sheboygan, USA, next month.

The event is the most important on the Para World Sailing calendar each year. The sailors representing Australia will be:

• Genevieve Wickham, WA (Hansa 303)
• Alison Weatherly, VIC (Hansa 303)
• Christopher Symonds, TAS (Hansa 303)
• Neil Patterson, VIC (Norlin 2.4 OD)
• Matthew Bugg, TAS (Norlin 2.4 OD)

A training camp was held at Royal Brighton Yacht Club to prepare for the Para World Sailing Championships.

The Squad participated in a successful four-day training camp at Royal Brighton Yacht Club in July led by head coach Grant Alderson, coach of Australia’s 2016 gold medal winning Sonar Team, and Hansa 303 coach Mike Darby.

“We are pleased to be able to support athletes with a range of experience to compete at the Worlds this year,” Para Sailing Coordinator David Staley said.

“Matt Bugg won silver in the Norlin 2.4 at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and Chris Symonds claimed the silver medal at the Para World Sailing Championships in the Hansa 303 in 2017, but at the other end of the spectrum Alison Weatherly will be competing in her first Para World Sailing Championships”, he said.

The Championships are being sailed on Lake Michigan and hosted by Sail Sheboygan, two-and-a-half hours north of Chicago. The event runs from September 16-22.

Despite sailing not being included in the 2020 Games in Tokyo, the Australian Sports Commission has provided Australian Sailing with interim project funding for this year. The objective is to ensure Australia is well represented at the 2018 Para Sailing World Championships and maintains momentum for development of Australian para sailors until the International Paralympic Committee announcement of the 2024 Sports Programme in early 2019.

For information, contact Australian Sailing’s Para Sailing Coordinator David Staley parasailing@sailing.org.au

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