Talking Youth Worlds and Olympics with New Zealand's Molly Meech

As the 2016 Aon Youth World Sailing Championships draws closer, World Sailing takes the opportunity to catch up with some people who know a thing or two about the event and the host country of New Zealand.

As part of the one of the most thrilling Olympic medal races ever, New Zealand’s 49erFX sailor Molly Meech bagged herself a Rio 2016 Olympic Games silver medal with partner Alex Maloney. For Meech though, her first taste of a big international regatta was in the single handed Laser Radial, but she still gained from those experiences to help her in her Olympic quest.
 
World Sailing Press Officer, Richard Aspland, caught up with Meech to talk about sailing in the Youth Worlds and Olympic Games.
 
Richard: So, first of all, which Youth Worlds did you compete at?
Molly: I competed in Turkey in 2010 and Croatia in 2011, in the Laser Radial both times.
 
R: And how did they go?
M: It was a great experience to go over and compete against people your age from all over the world with the same passion. It was like a mini Olympics in some ways. I didn’t do as well as I had hoped going into the events, but learned so much from the experience and had a lot of fun.
 
R: Tell me something that you did learn.
M: I learned a lot about how to manage myself in a big regatta, how to be part of a team.
 
R: Did that help your Olympic campaign?
M: I think it opened my eyes to the international sailing world as a whole. The way regattas function and what it takes to be prepared for events.
 
R: You got a silver medal at Rio 2016, tell me about the Olympic Games from your point of view.
M: It was an amazing experience. I had a lot of fun, learned a lot about performing under pressure and I was really happy with our result.
 
R: You’ve been to both the Youth Worlds and the Olympics now, are they quite similar?
M: I believe there are a lot of similarities between the two events. Both have a lot of rules around onshore and on the water regulations and they create a more intense atmosphere than any other sailing event.
 
R: What about competing at the Youth Worlds in New Zealand, would you have liked to have done it?
M: I think it would have been really cool to compete in a Youth Worlds in my home country.
 
R: What will it mean to have the Youth Worlds in New Zealand?
M: I hope that it will showcase our sport to the country, but also showcase our country to the rest of the sailing world.
 
R: What advice would you give to any of the sailors competing this year, both from New Zealand and around the world?
M: I would encourage them to enjoy the whole experience as much as they can. Also sail fair and make friends with their competitors, they will be friends for years to come.
 
R: That sounds like some good advice.
M: It’s very true.
 
The Aon Youth Sailing World Championships, the 46th edition, will take place from 14 to 20 December 2016 in Auckland New Zealand with more than 380 sailors from 66 nations sailing competing in more than 260 boats across nine disciplines.
 
Website – www.isafyouthworlds.com/home.php