Sailing's Fynn Sterritt on Paris 2024 and the Centrica Athletes Leadership Placement Programme

Sailing 03 Dec 24

Fynn Sterritt spent his entire sailing career with a dream of competing at an Olympics.

When it finally happened, his favourite moment came on a day when he did not race at all.

Alongside James Peters, Sterritt represented Team GB in the 49er in Marseille this summer, the duo eventually finishing seventh after a tricky regatta where the lack of wind made racing complicated throughout.

Now 36, Sterritt always knew that this would be his one shot at the Games, after he and Peters had missed out on selection for Tokyo to eventual gold medallists Dylan Fletcher-Scott and Stuart Bithell.

So while there will always be some disappointment at not making it onto the podium, Sterritt is still able to reflect on just what it meant to get to the Games, more than a decade after first breaking into the British Sailing Team.

He said: “We didn’t medal in Paris and that was a massive disappointment. It’s something that you will always think about, if you stop for too long, it comes back to the forefront of your mind that you didn’t quite achieve what you wanted to achieve. But that is life, not many people make it to the Olympics, so you’ve got to be proud of getting there in the first place.

“It was amazing. Tokyo being the pandemic Olympics, if that had been the only Olympics we had gone to, we may have felt that we missed out. So having it so close to home and having family and friends there was super special.

“We had a day where we tried to do the medal racing and there wasn’t enough wind. We had all our family and friends on the beach cheering us on. Even though we didn’t race, that was still my favourite memory of the Olympics. It was such a good atmosphere, such a good vibe. The people who had supported us over the years were all there and we were able to come back to the beach and catch up with them. That was a really nice day.

“It was many years of trying to get there, and there is luck in there. I’ve sailed with and against amazing sailors who should have got to the Olympics and didn’t, so I can take it for granted.”

The immediate aftermath of a Games is a challenging period for any athlete, and even more so for those who step away from their sport.

Even though Sterritt knew he would not continue sailing competitively, he was not sure exactly what he would do next.

But then he received an email from British Gas about a new programme – the Centrica Athletes Leadership Placement Programme – which helps high performance athletes across a wide range of careers within the energy sector, without necessarily needing to know anything about the topic.

Sterritt applied and since October has been working for Centrica in their Net Zero department as a Commercial Analyst, focusing specifically on solar panels and batteries.

He explained: “It’s been quite a change. It’s cool, I’ve had quite an active interest in Net Zero previously, so now I’m getting to research it and think about it on a daily basis which is cool. That’s making the struggle of being inside seven or eight hours a day a little easier.

“I always knew that this was my last cycle. I was going to do something different. When the email came through, I wasn’t sure. But there were three roles in Net Zero. I had an interest in that and for someone like me to get into this sort of sector or area, it felt like there wouldn’t be many opportunities.

“James and I had taken a break after missing Tokyo. We paused at the end of 2019 and didn’t start again until the end of 2021, almost two years’ break. That was quite good to recognise that we do have a lot of transferable skillsets but you need someone to buy into that and realise that you are not just yachting around the world.

“When I saw it come up, I thought I’d apply, there were a lot of targets and performance-related aspects to sailing. There are the performance targets and we’re very used to the goal-setting aspects. I think there are elements that are not necessarily as formalised as we used to be. That side of things is quite natural, even if I struggle with having targets around financial metrics, that is the way the world works.”

As well as joining Centrica, Sterritt is preparing to leave the south coast and head back to his native Scotland, having lined up a move to Nairn in the Highlands through the company's Flexible First working policy.

That will bring him much closer to family, while also staying close to the sea. While he has stopped sailing at the highest level, there was no way Sterritt could move away from the water for good.

He added: “I’m moving back up to Scotland, which I’m quite excited about. It will be nice to take up a different routine in life. I’m quite looking forward to less travelling, being in the one place a bit more, being involved in the local community.

“We’re going to go a bit further north and stay beside the sea, five minutes from the beach, looking forward to still getting out on the water.

“My brother has two kids, so I’m looking forward to being a more present uncle, that should be fun.”

Made available to athletes from both Team GB and ParalympicsGB as part of their five-year partnership with British Gas, the Centrica Athletes Leadership Placement programme is designed to give high performance athletes new roles and rewarding careers in the energy sector. The programme currently includes two Olympic graduates – Fynn Sterritt – Sailing (Paris 2024) and Sarah Davies – Weightlifting (Tokyo 2020).

Find out more about the programme here.

Tags