This year, the ILCA 6 European championships were held in Thessaloniki Greece. this was the first-time l had competed at a European championship so it was a great learning experience. To help with this experience I had the support through the Performance Academy scholarship programme (PASS).
The PASS programme allows me to access some of the best coaching in the country. At the event we had ASC Performance Academy Manager James Parker-Mowbray supporting us. Through the event support we had 4 days or training prior to the event starting. These days allowed us to learn a bit about the venue and polish up or some of our skills. It was extremely useful as there was a lot of information, we gathered that helped us going into the event.
We also had James on the water to support as during the racing days, this was vital with it being so not it as it wasn’t possible to carry enough water in our own boats and James was also there for us to talk through are strategies before the racing and evaluate it afterwards.
We had briefings before every racing day where we discussed what was going to be important for that day. We also had the opportunity for 1 to 1 conversations throughout the week about the racing. Having access to this support really helped me during the week. It made it easier with it being my first European championship.
The racing came as a bit of a shock to me as it Is very different to what I have done before. After a long day racing it was always a nice sight to see James waiting at the finish line ready to give us a tow in!
