Silja Lehtinen

Yacht Club Location

Helsinki, Finland

Hometown

Helsinki, Finland

Education

Medicine - University of Helsinki

First Event Competed

On the Rocks, TPS, 1994, International debut - Byte world champion 2001, Mantoloking, New Jersey, USA

Languages Spoken

Finnish, Swedish, English, German

Injuries

luckily no

Superstitions

If you get unlucky, don't worry, luck will eventually turn your way. So just think that you're storing luck for something that will be more important for you. You are taken care of.

Campaign Website

www.siljalehtinen.com

Why This Sport

love the sea and the complexity of the sport

Coach

Annelies Thies (NED)

General Interest

sailing, sailing, sailing, surfing, kitewinging, cross country skiing and snowboarding

First Event Won

Optimist Finnish Nationals, Lahti, 1997

Best Sporting Achievement

Beating Claire Leroy 3-0 in London Women's Match Race final in 2007

Boat First Sailed

Optimist Dinghy

Most Influential Person

my dad

Coached Since

April 2008

Sporting Relatives

My step mom Vivi Fleming-Lehtinen sails match racing with our Yngling team, my brother Lauri sails 49ers, my dad Tapio and uncle Eero have both done Whitbread etc ocean racing and my aunt Elina is also a good sailor

Classes Sailed

29er

Current Class

Yngling, Match Race, 49er

Racing Age

8

Awards

Finnish Sailor of the Year 2006, SeaHorse Magazine Sailor of the Month 04/2007, Young Athlete of the Year by Helsingin Sanomat 2006

Most Admired Person

I admire Thomas Johansson, Finnish 49er olympic gold medallist, who has been successful in many different classes and inspires young sailors to sail and believe in themselves

Yacht Club

NJK, Nyländska Jaktklubben