SportsAid UK athlete Siân is passionate about sailing. After winning the Ladies RS Feva World Championship Trophy in Medemblik in 2017, Siân moved in to a new sailing partnership to sail in the Youth Class 29er racing skiff. Sailing in a Youth Class pitted Siân against sailors who are older, bigger and stronger than her and she has enjoyed the challenge that brings.
After an intense first year learning to sail this high-performance skiff, Siân and her partner won the Silver Fleet and the 1st Junior team trophy at the UK 2018 29er Class National and Open Championship.
Siân then qualified for both the RYA British Youth Squad (29er) and the 29er UK Class National Squad. She accepted the latter with whom she has been training all winter.
Continued success in other competitions resulted in Siân’s current position of 14th overall in the UK 29er rolling rankings in the top fifteen, as well as being the top Junior and third all female partnership. It’s been a busy year with regular training and 29er UK competitions as well as participating in an Italian Eurocup on Lake Garda, and in her first RYA Youth National Championships.
Siân is very dedicated to sailing, she says: “Sailing is a very complex sport meaning that you have to be able to think quickly but also think ahead. I like this challenge. The speed of the 29er is exhilarating and we have so much fun training and competing in a partnership. I spend almost every weekend either training on the water or competing, as well as working on my fitness and core strength during the week. My sailing partner and I also do indoor wall climbing together which builds our physical strength as well as our team working and our trust in each other.”
Her love of sailing came from family trips in the Lake District; and an initial “Kids week”, followed by a “Swallows & Amazons” weekend at a sailing school there. Then we quickly joined a sailing club with a friendly, active junior section and she never looked back.
“Sailing has made me resilient, and willing to do what it takes to become the best I can be in my sport. Fitting everything in to my life is often challenging, but I wouldn’t change what I do. Knowing that I have the support of CHS regarding my sailing has always been fantastic.”
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