Niki Birrell and Alexandra Rickham are confident they have the speed to secure Great Britain’s first ever Paralympic sailing medal, as favourites in the SKUD 18 class.
The duo recently won an eight-minute unofficial practice race by 40 seconds on the course in Weymouth and Portland and Birrell said: “We know we are fast. We just have to start well and not make mistakes.”
Australia, featuring Beijing silver medallist Dan Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch, are likely to be their nearest rivals but Birrell cautioned: “Everyone brings their ‘A’ game. The Australians are fast, but so are the Canadians, the Americans and the Israelis.”
Great Britain have been unable to secure a medal in any of the three classes since Sailing was introduced to the Paralympics 12 years ago.
Birrell and Rickham came together as a crew in 2007 and finished fourth in Beijing the following year but have won each of the four world championships since.
At 26, Birrell, from Cheshire, is the youngest member of the GB Sailing squad. He competed with his brother at the 470 world championships for able-bodied sailors before switching to Paralympic classes.
Rickham, 30, was paralysed after suffering a spinal injury when she dived into shallow water in her native Jamaica in 1995. She subsequently moved to the UK to study at London’s Imperial College.
“Compared to Niki’s experience, I am a novice. We are a good combination because we are such different personalities,” she said.
“We have grown up a lot since not getting anything in China. I think we are a much better crew now.”
The GB team also features Helena Lucas, who lives in Portland and is second in the world standings in the 2.4mR class behind Frenchman Damien Seguin.
The Sonar crew of John Robertson, Stephen Thomas and Hannah Stodel are competing at their third Games together.
“The goal is to win a medal. The dream is to win a gold,” said Robertson, whose rivals include crews from the Netherlands, France, Australia and Norway.
“Six or seven teams can win races in our class. We will just keep on doing our own thing and then look to see who is near the top of the leaderboard close to the end.”
Racing begins on Saturday, with the medal races on Thursday September 6.
ParalympicsGB, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
Image credit: onEdition
