Winning ways

We speak to 470 World and European Champion, Nic Asher

Last week in very un-Garda like conditions, Britain’s number two team in the 470 added the European title to the World Championship crown they won earlier this year. This result has caused some to speculate on whether the Olympic selectors for Skandia Team GBR made the right decision in picking Athens Silver Medallists, Nick Rogers and Joe Glanfield over Asher and Willis.

In the build-up to the European Championships the talk was of a very windy event in a typical Garda fashion. In fact when the teams arrived for the regatta it was actually a long way from the usual and expected conditions. “We got out there and it pretty much rained every day, so we did not really get the Ora wind. We did manage to get all the racing in, but it just felt like typical lake sailing really,” Asher explained to TheDailySail.

In spite of the extremely light winds on the lake throughout the course of the regatta Asher says the event was fair throughout and he can’t remember any races where a major unpredictable shift came down the course. In actual fact, despite the conditions never really being typical there was some wind at times. “A lot of it was light, but then we had a couple of days in the gold fleet where it was quite windy and gusty,” Asher recalls. “The medal race was about 25 knots, so there were pretty full-on conditions as well.” The fact that Asher and Willis won in this variety of conditions shows just how mature they have become as sailors over this Olympic cycle.



In fact looking back at their track record over the last four years they have some truly impressive scores behind them. In 2005 they were sixth at the world championships, followed by a first in 2006 – the first time a British team had won the event in 18 years – 11th in 2007 before finally winning the event again this year. Clearly here the disappointing year is 2007 when the team scored their worst result of 11th. However, Willis suffered and injury in early the season and the team had only just managed to get back into the boat in time for the event. Sadly, though last year was the most important of the cycle, as it was the year Olympic selections were due to be made. When asked what effect Willis’ injury might have had on their selection chances Asher becomes cagey. “That is really a hard one for us. It is hard to say. It was a pretty big pain in the arse as we could not sail for four months before the Worlds, so that did mess us up. I don’t know really - it is hard to say anything,” he admits.

In reality this is about the only answer Asher is able to give. Perhaps it did scupper their selection possibilities but it would be very hard for him to make a comment stating as much. Much of our conversation with Asher is on a similar note and it is hard not to feel for the 23 year old. Clearly there is a huge amount of disappointment from them for not being able to go to the Olympics, but equally he obviously does not want to say anything that would come across as unsupportive of Rogers and Glanfield.

Although they have spent their time over the winter continuing to train hard and have been focused on winning the big events Asher says in reflection this has not made their lack of selection any easier to handle. “It is pretty annoying. Winning the Europeans has sort of made it even worse now as we would have had a chance to be World, European and Olympic Champions all in one year,” he states frankly, “It is not a very nice position to be in - but what can you do?”

Of course now it is a case of pulling together as a team and ensuring Rogers and Glanfield have the best possible shot at an Olympic Gold in China. For the second time Asher and Willis will be filling the role of training partner for Rogers and Glanfield in the build up to the Games, having previously done so for them in Athens. “We went out to Athens and were part of a four boat team there [consisting of] Graham [Vials] and Christina Bassadone and Katherine Hopson as well as Nick [Rogers] and Joe [Glanfield].

We were surprised to discover that they have a relatively smaller role than we had initially imagined this year. “We are only going out for two weeks. So we go out [to Qingdao] a week on Monday for two weeks. We have five days of training with the squad and then the coaches have organised a seven or six day regatta and invited some other countries and we are going to have a mini event out there basically,” Asher explains. After this the pair will return home and play no further part in the preparations out in China.

Following this time Asher and Willis will start to talk properly about their plans for Weymouth in four years time, though there are some certainties already. “We have not really made any solid decisions just yet about what our exact plans are. We wanted to get the Europeans out of the way and then see what we think. I guess we will have a break. We have to do Sail for Gold in September and we want to do that a lot. It is our plan to get as much racing in at Weymouth as we can really,” he comments.

In light of their results in this Olympic cycle we assume Asher must be feeling fairly confident about their chances for 2012. “Well, we have sailed really well, but anything can happen so you do have top be a little bit careful: Look at last year when Elliot got injured,” Asher says hesitantly.


Above: Ahead of Rogers and Glanfield at the World Championships in Australia.

Of course at this stage in the game it is hard to know exactly who their main competition may be in the next four years. “It is hard to tell what [Rogers and Glanfield] might do. They will almost definitely have a break I am sure, but I don’t know what their plans are after that,” Asher comments. “I would be surprised if they did not go for [2012] as it is in this country and on the doorstep. There is no reason why they would not. It would be good for us if they stay so we have a really strong training partner to sail against.”

So from now on for the team it is very much a case of sailing at Weymouth as much as possible and re-focusing on a new campaign. Asher says although they have no solid plans as yet he thinks they will continue trying to do the top events such as the World and European Championships to keep their hand in. In addition to the 470 season 2007 saw Asher doing a little keelboat sailing with some friends and this is something he would like to pursue in the future. “Hopefully I will do a bit of yachting. I have done a bit with some boys I know locally. Hopefully I will do a bit more with them this year and get into that a little bit,” he concludes.

It is hard to imagine the difficulty of being World Champions twice in one Olympic cycle and reigning World and European champions in the Olympic year and not be going to the Games. However, Asher and Willis have taken the disappointment well and seem determined to make the choice clear when the next Olympics role around. They should be commended for the manner in which they have handled last year’s selection decision but Asher can’t keep the disappointment and frustration out of his voice when discussing the subject. However, they have been responsible for pushing Rogers and Glanfield hard and have helped Skandia Team GBR look like one of the most likely medal prospects for the 470 in China. In four years time standing on a podium in Weymouth with a Gold round their necks this will all seem a long way away and fairly unimportant, and the focus must now be that goal.