Olympic sailing hopefuls compete in Europe

MUSCAT — Two of Oman’s young Olympic sailing prospects are competing in Europe to put into place the first building blocks of Oman Sail’s plan to qualify the Sultanate for future Olympic Games. By the time laser sailor Ahmed al Balushi and windsurfer Waleed al Kindi return to Oman, they will have been away for up to eight weeks, competing in a range of events including an ISAF World Cup event in France as well as three Eurosaf Champions Sailing Cup regattas at Lake Garda in Italy, Medemblik in Holland (Delta Lloyd) and Weymouth, UK (Sail for Gold). The experience that they gain at these events over the months and years should earn Oman the right to compete in the Olympics in 2020, with a chance of qualifying four years earlier in Rio de Janeiro.

Rashid al Kindi, Oman Sail’s National Team Manager explained what the Omani sailors need to do to reach the required standard and how participation at these premium Olympic class events will lay important foundations. “To qualify for the Olympics in the Laser class, you have to be in the top 45 nations in the world and at the moment we are probably about 60th so to move up, we have to have a fully focused programme where there are no compromises,” he said. “The sailors come out of Oman having sailed against five GCC nations compete in small fleets of around 30 boats and go to Hyeres where there are 60 nations and 1000 competitors all focussed on one thing, getting a place at the next Olympics.

“So they are coming to terms with the depth of the competition and the intensity of the competition. They are making massive improvements because it is such a steep learning curve but we are building up the experience so that in 2016, there is a chance, that we can move up the rankings and qualify. “In that case, Oman can qualify for the Games which will mean it will be the first time an Omani sailor has competed in an Olympic Games.” Ahmed al Balushi coached by Oman Sail’s Laser coach Allan Coutts made significant progress both on the race track and in confidence levels while Waleed Al Kindi managed a top 20 result in one RS:X race in Medemblik. “We are just starting out and our aim is to qualify Oman for the Olympics,” said Waleed al Kindi who is coached by Koray Ezer, the Turkish National Champion and RSX Windsurf coach. “Each time we race we are learning a lot so it is very good but we still have a long way to go.”

Wednesday 28th, May 2014 / 23:09 Written by Oman Observer 

in Sports