Countdown to a stimulating ambition

Friday, July 27, 2012 is just one of the 365 days which makes up a calendar year. But for many determined sportspersons and their various collaborators this date stands out exclusively on next year’s almanac.

For this day, just 350 days: 08 hours: 55 minutes: 12 seconds away (at the time when this feature was completed) marks the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics where London will become the first city to officially host the modern Games three times; 1908 and 1948 being the other years the England capital had played host to the Games.

Countdowns are bound to be demanding and can lead to frustration and anxiety but in today’s competitive world one must be a scout: “Be Prepared for Life” – to live happily and without regret.

Maltese sailing youngsters Sebastian Ripard and Benji Borg, or the Malta49er Team, are certainly doing their utmost to “be pre-pared”.

I’ve been following their ambitious venture for some two years now, although their names and sailing flair have been familiar since their Euromed Malta Champion-ship childhood participation.

In such a scenario, what are the main characteristics that distinguish a ‘professional’ athlete?

“Sporting success at a high level basically boils down to practice. So what distinguishes a ‘professional’ athlete are on the one hand the facilities and infrastructure which enables him to practise as efficiently as possible, this boils down to funds,” Ripard said.

“On the other hand, it is also about the athlete’s dedication and determination, which give him the motivation to keep pushing against all odds.”

During this period, were there any moments in your build-up that you were disappointed about?

“There are always a few setbacks, whether it is losing a sponsorship deal, or a bad regatta where you know you could have performed much better, or a logistical nightmare like crashing your van in the middle of Europe on the way home from an event.

“But you just got to keep on pushing,” Borg recalls.

The last time we featured was in May when you raced in Medem-blik (Holland). What were your ac-tivities and results since then?

“After Medemblik we went to Weymouth (UK), the venue for the Olympic sailing events for 2012, for the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta.

“At this event we had some good races and some bad ones but we finished on quite a high since we managed to place 46th out of 70+ boats and 19th country overall.

“A good enough result to qualify the nation were it was a qualifying event,” Ripard said.

“We then took a couple of weeks off before heading to Kiel (Germany) where we did two weeks of training with our coach Kolja Volkers and then competed in the 49er Youth World Championships.

“This was another good event giving us a morale boost as we managed to finish 13th overall out of 40+ boats and even managed to win one of the races.”

What is your main competitive programme leading to July 2012?

“Well, the priority is to prepare for the ISAF World Championships in Perth (Australia) which will serve as the first qualifier for the Olympics. To prepare for this event we will spend all of September in Germany training with some top teams,” Ripard added.

“Hopefully, we will then invite an international group of top 49er teams for some training in Malta during October.

“Then we will take some time off before we head to Australia for the big event (December 3-18).”

Are you still confident you will make London 2012?

“We are very confident that we will make London 2012 as long as we have the backing to keep up our intense training programme,” the Malta49 Team reacted.

Ultimately Sebastian and Benji are hoping to place within the top 21 countries which is what they would need to do at the Australian qualifiers in December, in order to be invited to the London Olympics where the 49er class presents 20 places.

In fact, 15 will qualify in Perth and the other five in Croatia next May. One spot goes to the host country.

German coach Volkers has high hopes for the Maltese sailors.

“The boys are on track with their preparations,” he said.

“It is a race against time especially considering that they are fighting against much older and more experienced teams, but they are on track to qualify and have a good chance of medaling in 2016 if they keep up the fight.”

Without doubt, following such a gruelling training and racing programme is an expensive campaign indeed but it is the only approach for a possible successful attempt at qualifying Malta for the Olympics.

While Malta49er Team are striving to “be prepared” they are enthusiastically backed by a team of sponsors, namely, EC English Language Centres, CISK Excel Beer, RLR Yachting, Yacht Help Ltd and Big Exhibits as well as other contributors such as The Creative Partners, Body Works and Kurt Arrigo.