News

Zoe Thomson Keen To Test Olympic Waters

Published Fri 07 Sep 2018

Zoe Thomson knows that plenty of hard work separates her from the world’s elite Laser Radial sailors.

But being surrounded by so many high achievers in her training and competitive environment gives the ex-Youth World Champion plenty of inspiration and opportunity.

Zoe Thomson is gaining experience all the time. PHOTO: Beau Outteridge

Thomson is one of Australian Sailing’s 19 representatives for the first official Olympic Test Event, which starts at Enoshima in Japan on Tuesday. She joins fellow Laser Radial sailor Elyse Ainsworth in a Team featuring the pick of the nation’s Olympic class athletes, including Rio medallists Tom Burton (gold in the Laser), Mat Belcher and Will Ryan (silver in the 470), Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin (silver in the Nacra 17) and Nathan Outteridge (silver in the 49er, now competing in the Nacra 17 with his sister Haylee Outteridge).

Nathan and Haylee Outteridge, and Laser sailor Matt Wearn, won silver at the recent World Championships in Denmark. Thomson finished 43rd in her fleet at the World Championships after a strong end to last year in which she finished second at the Laser Oceania Championship, second at Sail Melbourne and third at Sail Sydney, not long after emerging from the youth ranks.

Thomson said she seemed to perform better in light winds, but knows that to be among the world’s best she needs to master all conditions.

“It’s a really good opportunity to race against the top girls again and I haven’t raced before at Enoshima, so I’m looking forward to that,” Thomson said.

The site of the 2020 Olympic Regatta is about 60 kilometres south of Tokyo.

“I know that the wind there can go pretty quickly from zero to hero and there can be huge waves, which will make it a pretty cool venue to get my head around. It makes it more exciting, to know that anything can happen. You’re going to have to be a well-rounded sailor to do well there.”

Experience was the key to her performance becoming more consistent, Thomson said.

“I prefer a bit more of a lighter breeze at the moment. But nothing that a bit of training can’t fix.

“I really enjoy sailing in big waves and windy conditions as well, but my results tend to show that I’m a bit better in the lighter stuff.

“Last year, I think I had a lot of positive results that fired me up and really felt encouraging to keep moving forward. Obviously there were some results that weren’t as good. I guess it opened me up a bit. Racing is so addictive and there’s always something to change or improve on. Each race is different. I just want to race more.

“The faster you get and the more competitive you get by racing the top girls, it makes it even more addictive because you can see where you can reach. When you put it together properly, it makes it more fun.”

“We acknowledge that we all need to work together to get up to pace with the top girls." PHOTO: World Sailing

Thomson was keen to congratulate Belgian Emma Plasschaert after her World Championship win in Denmark.

“What Emma did really well was stay so consistent. She is an all rounded sailor, for sure. She’s a good example for me,” she said.

Another good example is the Australian men’s Laser Squad, which works closely at a high level as a team under coach Michael Blackburn.

“We admire the boys squad quite a lot and we try a lot to work off them,” Thomson said.

“We acknowledge that we all need to work together to get up to pace with the top girls. The boys’ success has really shown us what we can do as well. We’re really a young squad, but I’m sure we’ll be able to progress to their level in the future.”

The immediate future is Tokyo 2020. And, while Thomson is focused on qualifying for the next Olympics, she concedes that 2024 is perhaps a more realistic chance.

“I’m going to do everything I can to qualify for Tokyo,” she said. “I’ve got so much improvement to be made to qualify but I’m going to do whatever I can to make it happen.”

Event Website

Schedule

Full Squad for the Test Event:

Mat Belcher/Will Ryan - 470M

Nia Jerwood/Monique de Vries - 470W

Chris Charlwood/Josh Dawson - 470M

David Gilmour/Lachy Gilmour - 49er

Natasha Bryant/Annie Wilmot - 49erFX

Elyse Ainsworth - Laser Radial

Zoe Thomson - Laser Radial

Jake Lilley - Finn

Nathan Outteridge/Haylee Outteridge - Nacra 17