The Slingsby Saga - First hand.
Tom Slingsby, head in hands, just meters from the finish line of race 2 in the Mens Laser - Richard Gladwell
He was our champion.
He was our favourite.
He was a real hope for an Olympic medal.
But the dream never eventuated.
So why did star sailor Tom Slingsby crumble?
Here is a first hand response to the dreaded question… “What happened???”
‘Since I have returned from the Olympic Games in Beijing I have been asked one question over and over - ‘What happened?’ The simple answer is ‘I don’t know’. If I knew, I would have changed something during the event. I will give you a rundown of my view of the Olympics and what it was like from my perspective.’ Tom Slingsby
The Olympics
After arriving in China from our team camp in Hong Kong, we were straight into the Olympic Sailing Village. I began training on 29th July which gave me plenty of time to practise in my allocated boat before my event began on the 12th August.
While I was training before the event started, I had already noticed I was struggling a little for boat speed in practice races. I was very surprised as in the lead-up events I had been very fast in light wind races and with my lighter weight (75-76 kg), why I was having problems?
Arthur and I began working on things to try to get my speed edge back but even now, a month later, I don’t know exactly what the problem was. So when day one of racing arrived, I knew deep down that I was going to have to sail the regatta of my life to keep up with the fast guys.
Basically, the long and short of the regatta was I did not sail well with the boat speed problem. This meant I could not hold lanes, which meant I could not go where I wanted to go, which meant I was forced to take risks, which meant not only was I slow, but I was sailing low percentage strategies.
I finished the event in 22nd place with a best race of an 11th. In the last 33 lead up races prior to the Olympics, I had been top five in 30 races, with a worst result of an 11th!
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