Back in May, VB were lucky enough to talk to four Team GB Olympic Sailors. Our intern at the time, Charlotte Stockdale, joined us in meeting Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark, who are currently competing in the Women’s 470 class and leading the board. Ed
When we met Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark they had just returned from Barcelona where they were crowned world champions in the 470 class of sailing.
After this victory they continued training hard for the Olympics and following that, Cowes Week.
Like other Olympic teams, Hannah and Saskia put their all into sailing and rarely have down-time so close to the Olympics.
The mindset of an Olympian
It appears that mental state is of huge importance to the Olympians; in some ways it seems that what is going on in the head is even more important than their physical state. “There is not sport like it in the world. There are so many variables in it.”
Hannah says that the time before a race is a “horrible feeling, butterflies in the stomach but for Saskia and I it’s a good feeling, we know we’ll be the top of our game.”
Continued training
They are currently preparing for the Olympics by trying to put on weight as a lot of sailing is about leverage.
Saskia feels happy with their training program and will continue with it for the next three months.
They are looking forward to the down-time after the Olympics, “We’ll see you at Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week at the party.”
This year Cowes Week directly follows the Olympics and we are all hoping for a couple of gold medals to follow us down to the Island. [audio:http://onthewight.com/m/a/hannah-mills-and-saskia-clark-female-olympic-sailors.mp3]
