Team GBR - in the back room

madforsailing.com talks to Milly Minors, the British team's Olympic administrator

Team GBR involves not just enormous amounts of hard work, talent and dedication on the part of the sailors, but also the support and back-up of a dedicated group of individuals. The RYA employs an elite group of coaches, weather experts, administrators, physios and nutritionists to ensure that our sailors are at their peak, both physically and mentally. We thought it was about time that some of these people were dragged out of the shadows and into the daylight.
Milly Mynors is the Olympic administrator out in Sydney and works closely alongside John Derbyshire, the Olympic Manager, to provide the support structure.

mfs - Milly, how long have you been out here in Australia and what have you been doing?

MM - I’ve been out here for nearly two weeks now and we’ve mainly been setting up the operations centre down at Rushcutters Bay, moving everything over from Woolahra Sailing Club where the British team has been based for pretty much the last three years.

mfs - How did the British team come to have a base at Woolahra Sailing Club and what was the set-up like over there for our sailors?

MM - We basically rented space from Woolahra Sailing Club in Rose Bay, which meant that we were allowed to store our boats in the compound. We had about half the dinghy space in the compound allocated to us. We also had three offices at the club, and this year the Sailing Club actually gave up their Committee Room for us, which was fantastic. That gave us a room with a fantastic view over the harbour for our weather guys to monitor the wind and weather, and base the computers for our remote linked weather station. We had two equipment stores, a room for the physio and an under cover workshop area.

mfs - It sounds like a perfect set up. When did this come into use?

MM - John Derbyshire set that up in 1997 and since then all the sailors and staff have been able to come out and use these facilities to train on the harbour and prepare for Sydney 2000.

mfs - When did the base move from Woolahra to Rushcutters Bay?

MM - The Rushcutters Bay Olympic Marina opened on the 2nd September, and all the sailors came here just after then. The Team had to be here at the latest by the 10th September to start measurement. The operations centre, which is based almost directly opposite the Olympic Marina, opened on the 12th September. The centre is a good base for all of the team to get out of the Olympic Marina, if they want to get away from it all and relax. They can have confidential meetings away from prying eyes in the boat park and the press.

mfs - Day to day, what does your job entail?

MM - I’m manning the operations centre and troubleshooting. If the sailors have any problems that we can sort out for them, then we’ll do our very best to take that pressure off them. I also act as liaison for the family and friends who come out to support the team, telling them as much about the racing as possible, what courses are home to which classes, results, that type of thing. I help them to get tickets for any of the other events or for sailing and generally try to answer any questions that they may have. I sometimes feel a bit like a tour guide!

mfs - Before the move to Rushcutters Bay, the team went to Brisbane on the Gold Coast to the Holding Camp. What was your role there?

MM - Well, it was really a time for me to relax as well as the team, but you’re never really off-duty. The set-up there was amazing. The British Olympic Association did a really good job. They organised a Holding Camp for all the British team members to replicate the Olympic Village set up here in Sydney. We had three meals a day, buffet style and HQ-style meeting rooms. There were plenty of activities for everyone to enjoy and get down to the business of relaxing before the action started.

mfs - What did the sailing team get up to?

MM - The sailors mainly played golf and tennis and lounged around the pool. The weather hadn’t been fantastic in Sydney up until that point, so it was great to feel warm under the sun! The team were also issued with their Olympic kit, all 27 kilos of it!

mfs - How did you end up as the Olympic administrator at the RYA?

MM - I was working in publishing at the time, and John Derbyshire approached me about the job. I had done a lot of sailing, having sailed a 470 for four years previously and had been to the Games in Atlanta as a supporter, so I had some experience of an Olympic Games and felt that it was an exciting opportunity.

mfs - What do you think is the biggest contribution that you can make to the team?

MM - Partly because I know all the team and partly because I’ve been to an Olympics and know what it’s about, I can give them a level-headed perspective on it all.

mfs - What’s the hardest part of your job?

MM - Dealing with all the different personalities! There are 16 sailors plus all the coaches and training partners as well as the support staff. That’s a lot of people to keep happy!

mfs - What’s the best part of your job?

MM - Coming out to Sydney of course!