Ocean dreams for Olympic medallists

A third group of candidates is coming to Lanzarote to train with SCA's all-women sailing team – including three Olympic medallists.
Photo Rick Tomlinson/SCA

"Our intention has always been to try and put together the best female offshore racing crew" - Brad Jackson

Spain’s Tamara Echegoyen and Natalia Via-Dufresne, Annemeike Bes of the Netherlands and Sweden’s Anna-Lena Elled are starting a 10-day selection program with Team SCA, the 100% female team for the next edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

The team backed by the Sweden-based global hygiene and forest products company have already been training for a monthwith the repurposed Mar Mostro, and two groups of hopefuls have already gone through these trials in Puerto Calero, Lanzarote.

It’s a very Olympic group this time around, with three of the sailors having medalled in the Games. Echegoyen won gold in match race at the London Olympics last summer, Via-Dufresne took the silver in Barcelona 92 and Athens 2004 and Bes took silver too in Beijing 2008.

“Our intention has always been to try and put together the best female offshore racing crew,” said Team SCA coach Brad Jackson, ex of PUMA Ocean Racing. “We have been very impressed with the caliber of candidates so far and I am sure that these new additions will be equally impressive.”

“We are, of course, looking at each candidate’s sailing skill, but we are also looking at their ability to work as part of a team. As coaches we are more than aware that this race can at times be very demanding – both physically and mentally – so it is important that the crew is able to deal with this in a team environment.”

Ten days of tests of sailing and physical ability, as well as medicals, will help the coaches decide if these inshore champions can also excel offshore.

A total of 18 women have now been through this training program. The first crewmembers will be confirmed in the near future, with the full team to be announced later this year.

The first group of SCA candidates was made up of: Annie Lush (Britain), Carolijn Brouwer (Netherlands), Jeanne Gregoire (France), Klaartje Zuiderbaan (Netherlands), Liz Wardley (Australia), Sam Davies (Britain), Stacey Jackson (Australia).

The second group was made up of: Alicia Ageno (Spain), Sally Barkow (USA), Karin Berg (Sweden), Sophie Ciszek and Jessica Sweeney (Australia), Robin Hilton (Canada) and Justine Mettraux (Switzerland).