Not all the classes have been confirmed for selection. Laser Radial (women), 49er and 470 men have yet to be decided. How the sailors perform at some of the key regattas between now and next year will determine who gets the coveted places.
Skandia’s support of the British sailing team since 2006 has helped it go from strength to strength and selectors have been spoiled for choice when deciding who should make the final cut for the 2012 Olympic team. In most of the classes, a number of talented sailors have battled it out for selection with many of them capable of winning medals for Britain. However, the restrictions on the Olympic sailing competition mean that only one team from each nation can compete in each of the ten classes at the Games, and this team gets only one chance at a medal.
“It’s extremely frustrating for the sailors to know that only one person or team per class can be selected, particularly when other sports can have a number of representatives and they can compete in a number of different races, giving them multiple chances of winning medals,” says Jo Rimmer, Skandia’s head of brand marketing. “It’s especially tough for Giles Scott, who’s won some major regattas over the last couple of years but was pipped at the post in the key selection events by Ben Ainslie, one of the all time legends of Olympic sailing.
At the press conference to announce the selection (20 September 2011), Ben Ainslie paid tribute to Giles and the other top Finn sailors: “It’s an honour to be selected to compete for Team GB at the 2012 Olympics. This qualification process was definitely the hardest compared to the previous four I’ve been through. The previous experiences helped, but at the same time having the Olympics in the UK puts that added bit of pressure on, we all want to compete on home waters, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“The competition was strong, having four top British sailors (Giles Scott, Ed Wright, Andrew Mills and Mark Andrews) battling for qualification meant I had to be at my best in every race. Certainly that is a credit to those guys, how well they were sailing and how they pressured me all the way in every event. At the same time pressure has always brought the best out of me and the competition with the British sailors gave me that added edge in competition. It’s now all about getting the plans right for my fitness and preparation to peak at the right time, you don’t want to reach burnout and the Olympics are the end goal!”
Great Britain is the world's top Olympic Classes sailing nation with the British Olympic team sailors topping the medal table at the past three Games in 2000, 2004 and 2008. With the Games less than a year away the excitement among the team is building and everyone has gold in their sights to make this the most successful event for sailing ever.