Its official... THM is going to Tokyo!
We could not be more excited to share this news with you. It truly takes a village to get there and it was only with all of our supporters that we were able to reach our goal! We are so proud and honoured to represent this amazing country on the world stage. We thank each of you for the support you gave us during the past 4 years – whether it was a donation, helpful advice or an encouraging message... they all shaped us into the team we are today.
Canadian Olympic Trials Explained:
The Canadian Olympic Selection trials originally consisted of two events: the 2020 World Championships and the 2020 Princess Sophia Regatta. The intention was to combine the two overall finishing positions and the team with the lowest combined score would win. We finished in 18th place overall at the 2020 Worlds (21 places ahead of the next Canadian team).
Unfortunately, just before the Princess Sophia Regatta was about to begin COVID struck, resulting in all teams heading madly to the airport to get back home. Sail Canada eventually announced the second trial event would take place in Miami at World Cup held in January 2021. But as you may have guessed, that event was also cancelled. The second trial was changed yet again to the 2021 Princess Sophia Regatta. Ultimately, the Princess Sophia regatta was also cancelled (a bit of a theme for the 2021 sailing season) leading Sail Canadian to regrettably announce that there would not be a second trial and the selection process would use the scores of the 2020 Worlds. The Olympic team needs time to prepare for the games and it doesn't make sense to hold a selection event a few weeks before the Olympic regatta - especially with all of the uncertainty of the current regatta schedule.
Although we were hoping to race and were confident of being selected (given our 21-point lead from the first event), we welcomed the decision to end the trials as it was in the best interest of all athletes. The goal, after all, is focus on getting the best possible performance out of the Canadian Olympic team in July.
Preparation Leading Up To The Olympics
This ‘bonus year’ as we like to call it, has given our team 365 extra days to get faster, stronger and smarter. The pandemic has forced our team to adjust training in many ways, but the goal remains the same. The teams that adapt to this ‘new normal’ and find new and innovative ways to prepare will come out on top. This has been, and will continue to be, our focus as we prepare for Tokyo!
Photo Credit [below] Christian Bonin
Upcoming Hurdles
Our original budget did not anticipate the additional year of campaigning caused by the Tokyo Olympics postponement. Financially we had budgeted and allocated funds with the anticipated start date of July 2020 for the Olympics. This 'bonus year' will cost us a projected $40,000.
Below is a breakdown showing how your support directly helps our team on a day-to-day basis!
$50 - fuels our team with food for one competition day
$150 - provides one night of housing for the team
$500 - registration entry fee for one regatta
$1,500 - airfare for one sailor to an international event
$6,000 - a new set of sails (main, jib and spinnaker)
$7,000 - a new mast
Recap of Our 2019-2020 Season
This past season has been both busy and exciting - we set a new Canadian record for the best 49erFX finish at an international event and had a personal best at the 2020 World Championships - let's keep the momentum rolling towards 2021!
We began to sail together in 2017. Mariah transitioned from several years of junior racing most recently in the 29er, and Ali from her 470 Olympic campaign. We quickly realized that we meshed well as teammates and believed we could quickly become competitive. This belief was confirmed at our first ever World Championships in 2018 where we finished 30th overall in the highly competitive senior fleet - qualifying for Gold Fleet and National Team status.
2019 Season
Focused on our Olympic goal, we continued to push the pace during the 2019 season. Continuing to climb the international rankings, we set a Canadian record by finishing 15th place at the 2019 European Championships in Weymouth, UK.
Other season highlights include qualifying and competing for Team Canada at the Pan American Games in Peru as well as representing Canada at the Olympic Test Event in Japan.
2020 Season
With the pandemic sweeping the globe we were only able to compete at one event in 2020, which was the 2020 World Championships in Geelong, Australia. We had our best Worlds result yet finishing 18th. Although pleased with our result we believe that our 5th place finish in the final race better illustrates our potential and the hard work we have put in over the past few months. We know we are within striking distance of the fleet leaders and this result confirms our ongoing success and gives us motivation to push harder!
We trained domestically for the duration of the 2020 season; sailing in Kingston, St. Margaret's Bay, and Comox. We were missing racing with the international fleet, but it gave us time to focus on specific gaps we identified as a team. It also gave us the unique experience to appreciate the beauty of our home country and the amazing sailing it has to offer.
2021 Season
We moved as a team to Europe in January 2021. First setting up in Vilamoura, Portugal and then moving to the Canary Islands of Spain. We are now reconnecting with the international fleet to put our new skills to the test and tackle some more racing specific goals. We will continue to train here for another couple months as we prepare for the Olympic's this summer.
Join Our Team - The Journey has been Incredible!
The driving force behind our campaign is an amazing community of people and organizations that are cheering us along every step of the way! We come from incredible communities, and have watched our team of supporters grow as people come together to offer assistance, financial support and encouragement as we reach towards each new goal. We push ourselves in training with the ultimate goal of standing on top of the podium and hearing our national anthem - taking pride in representing our country, community, and the supporters who got us there.
Our part in Sustainability
We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to travel the world for our sport. Visiting many countries to compete has really opened our eyes to the plastic we see polluting our planet’s lakes and oceans. Besides wind being a sustainable resource Olympic Sailing does have its environmental impact. We are aware of the carbon admissions that entail from air travel and shipping our equipment. Our team has made a pledge to lead by example and try to advocate for a more sustainable lifestyle, pushing our regatta organizers and federation to do the same. We hope to use our platform to teach young sailors to take these steps as well.
The Importance of Giving Back
We strongly believe in the theme of 'pass-it-on' and do our best to give back to our communities every chance we can. Our recent efforts have been focused on running initiatives to promote and encourage young women pursuing Olympic sailing. It is our hope to foster a positive environment and network of women within the Canadian sailing scene, educate women on the opportunities Olympic sailing has to offer, and create visible strong female role models that young women can look up to.
The value of Olympic sailing is in the pursuit of excellence - and this can be seen not only in sport, but in many different aspects of life. Striving for excellence is what drives our society and community forward. It is so important to teach young women to embrace this culture as well as to champion others to do so as well.
JOIN OUR TEAM AS WE PREPARE TO REPRESENT CANADA AT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS
Join our team today and help us win an Olympic medal for Canada. Every little bit helps! Help by sharing this page and spreading the word for others to join our team.
By becoming involved in this Olympic Campaign, you will be supporting two young women who have the ambition to be successful in everything they do. Let's support this theme of pursuing excellence and help win Canada an Olympic medal!
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Follow Our Journey
Facebook: THMFXRacing
Instagram: thm_racing
E: thmfxracing@gmail.com
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To learn more about Sail Canada and the Canadian Sailing Team visit:
Sail Canada