Competing in one sport at the very highest level is hard enough – mastering two is nigh on impossible. The list of athletes to successfully do so is not a long one although the likes of Rebecca Romero, who won Olympic medals in rowing at Athens 2004 and cycling at Beijing 2008, and American Bo Jackson – who was an all-star in the MLB in 1989 and the NFL in 1990 – prove it is possible. London 2012 gold-medal winning cyclists Victoria Pendleton and Sir Chris Hoy have turned their hands to horse racing and endurance motorsport respectively since retiring from the velodrome but arguably the greatest basketball player of all-time, Michael Jordan, failed to successfully transition to baseball in the mid-1990s – never making it higher than Double-A level in the minor leagues.
Rio-bound sailors Charlotte Dobson and Sophie Ainsworth have not completely changed sport but with the huge amount of new techniques they needed to learn when switching to the 49erFX class in order to fulfil their Olympic dream, they may as well have. “I came over from Laser Radial so I had to learn how to stand up on the boat and talk from scratch,” explained Dobson. “It was quite the transition and Sophie was very understanding while I was still finding my feet and my voice! “The best bit of this cycle has been that because it’s the new class and there hasn’t been much of a pathway into it, you’re right at the bottom of the learning curve. “We were literally learning how to launch the thing and swimming after it at the beginning. “The jumps in progress that you make are big, so it’s exciting and nice that you don’t get those stalemates you sometimes get in other classes.”
With the goal of reaching the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Dobson made the decision to switch to 49erFX from Laser Radial while Ainsworth did likewise from 470 at the beginning of this Olympic cycle. Although a sharp learning curve ensued, their decision was vindicated when they were confirmed as part of the 15-strong Team GB squad for the Games back in March. The 49erFX class will be making its Olympic debut when the sailing gets underway at Marina Da Gloria in Guanabara Bay on August 8 and Ainsworth claims she has loved the challenge of starting from scratch over the past few years. “This class is very different in that skiff has never been in the Olympics or an option for ladies in sailing,” she said. “It’s incredibly exciting and such a fun boat to sail. There are many different challenges – in light wind it’s quite a dead boat making it hard to feel or get the best out of. “But when it’s windy, it can bite back. It’s an incredibly fun challenge. “I love it and it just means that any day on the water is a great experience even if it’s a bad day. It brings a different level of enjoyment to the Olympic cycle.”
Dobson and Ainsworth are desperate to leave the Games of the XXXI Olympiad with a medal and signalled themselves as contenders by achieving an impressive fifth place in the women’s 49erFX at the World Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina last year. This week the duo are competing in the final major competition before the Olympic Games – the Sailing World Cup regatta at the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy, which runs until Sunday. And with the regatta representing their last chance to fine-tune preparations in a race environment, Ainsworth is targeting success. “This week in Weymouth we want to be on the podium. For us this a practice regatta for the Olympics and it is all about the outcome,” said the 26-year-old. “Because this class is so new to the Olympic cycle, you can’t call anyone’s form right up to the Olympic Games and there are still two months to go. It is important but anything can happen.”
Tickets for the Sailing World Cup Weymouth and Portland, to be held at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy from 6-12 June, are available at www.rya.org.uk/go/swcgb By Luke Baker Sportsbeat 2016