- Australian Sailing Team
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The Road to London

Australia enjoys a very proud history in Olympic Sailing, boasting many medal-winning sailing Olympians.

At the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia finished second in the sailing medal tally and second to swimming in Australia’s medal haul, winning two gold, one silver and one bronze. In Athens in 2004, despite the obvious potential of the team, we came away empty-handed.

Following a major review of the Olympic Sailing program a Gold Medal Plan was developed with the aim of returning Australia to our pre-eminent position as a leading Olympic sailing nation in the World. Fundamental to this strategy was the creation of the Australian Sailing Team as a semi-autonomous entity with a hard commercial edge and professional approach to winning multiple medals in Beijing in 2008 and beyond.

The hard work paid off and in Beijing the team came away with three medals, making the Australian Sailing Team the second ranked sailing team at the Games. Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page won Gold in the men's 470, Elise Rechichi and Tessa Parkinson Gold in the women's 470 and Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby Silver in the Tornado class.

The Australian Sailing Team is the national representative Team for sailing and comprises some of the leading Olympic Class sailors in the world today. Only athletes with the clear potential to win Olympic medals are involved. To qualify, sailors much achieve a top 10 placing at the World Championships in their class, or have the potential to do so within two years. Our goal is simple - to be the best team in the World and to win Olympic Gold Medals.

The Australian Sailing Team draws together our elite Olympic Class athletes into one cohesive and effective group. Our Australian Sailing Development Squad, State High Performance Programs and Australian Youth Team provide a seamless pathway for young sailors who share our aspirations.

The Team is generously supported by our Principal Partner the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), Audi, Hamilton Island, Gill Australia and Ronstan. The Team is a Tier 1 Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) program.

Since its inception in March 2006 the Team has secured the generous support of a small group of generous Patrons from within the sailing community. These Patrons provided the impetus for the team to attract and establish a comprehensive commercial partner program. This program is well underway and provides essential additional funding and services for the competing athletes.

Our Team is based in Australia, although our athletes spend up to six months each year campaigning overseas.

A very talented and dedicated coaching line-up is led by Victor Kovalenko, multiple gold medal-winning coach in the 470 Class. Katie Culbert leads an experienced and very hardworking administrative coordination team.

We have the opportunity not only to return Gold Medals to Australia but also to provide a lasting legacy for the sport in Australia.

So get behind us and join the Team!