The countdown to Paris 2024 is nearly over and Australian Sailing is proud to introduce one of the final members of the Australian Sailing Team who will be competing at the Games.

Representing Australia in the ILCA 6 class, Zoe Thomson from Western Australia will be making her Olympic debut.

We asked a couple of questions to the dinghy sailor from Perth ahead of the big event.

Zoe Thomson CREDIT Sailing Energy

What’s your favourite thing about Sailing?
My favourite thing about sailing is the racing and the battles that happen out on the course.

What’s your favourite place to sail?
My favourite place to Sail in Australia is probably Fremantle or Esperance. Around the world, I’m not sure, I think Australia is just too good.

Do you remember the first time you went sailing?
I learned to sail with my best friend because my older brother was already involved in the sport. I remember being five years old in a boat and just having good fun on the Swan River.

How would you describe the sailing community in Australia?
It’s super welcoming for sure. Sailing is a very unique sport in that someone super young can take part and so can someone in their eighties or older, so there’s such a diverse range of people at every club. You can sail with and learn from so many different people because everyone has different experiences, it’s really cool.

What would you say to someone looking to try their hand at sailing?
Just give it a go. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to be there every single weekend - if you feel like going then go. It’s always better when the sun is shining but maybe try and push yourself and go out when it’s just a little bit more windy every time. If you go out enough you’ll more than likely learn to even enjoy the rain too.

What about Paris 2024 are you most looking forward to?
The Olympics is such a high quality event and I think it will be really cool to be amongst that team atmosphere. I’m looking forwards to getting amongst the Olympics in general and also to the super close racing, it should be really really exciting.

To learn more about Zoe and the other members of the Australian Sailing Team competing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, click here.