2016 Nominee: Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark

The Rolex World Sailor of the Year Awards is the most prestigious award of recognition in the sport of sailing, with five nominees in 2016 under consideration in the Male and Female categories. Meet nominee Hannah Mills & Saskia Clark…

The Olympic Games is the pinnacle event in sailing. Held every four years it takes focus and drive to campaign and makes participation at the biggest event in sport all the more special. However, for those who miss out on their targets, it is a long four year wait to set the record straight.

Great Britain’s 470 sailors, Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark waited and waited, methodically planning their assault on the gold medal they had missed out on in their home waters of London 2012. In Rio 2016, the four-year plan was completed when the long-time friends climbed on to the top step of the Olympic podium to collect their gold medal.

The pair begun the nomination period with a silver medal in the 2015 World Championships in Israel before claiming the Sailing World Cup title Final title in Abu Dhabi. There was disappointment next as the duo placed 15th in the 2016 World Championships in Argentina, the worst position they had finished in a regatta for the entire quad.

With all results in sport, it’s not always about a single result, but what you do next and how you bounce back from the disappointment. Mills and Clark came out fighting. They won the Sailing World Cup Hyeres title before heading to their home waters of Weymouth and Portland to claim another Sailing World Cup gold. Almost poetically the final regatta before the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was at the venue of their London 2012 silver medal, the result they were aiming to better.

The time had come, Mills and Clark were ready to go. And while they began strongly posting high finishes in all races their rivals were almost falling apart around them.

With top eight finishes in each race and with team after team faltering, the British pair knew that barring a complete disaster in the Medal Race the gold that had been their primary focus for four years would be theirs.

There was no such melt down or collapse. An Olympic gold medal was finally secure. They had stayed out of trouble in the final race to cross the finish line as champions.

With so much support throughout the campaign from friends and family, and that support being in Rio to see all the endeavours come to fruition, the girls sailed straight to Flamengo Beach to celebrate among the thousands of fans that lined the shore.

The announcement of the 2016 Rolex World Sailors of the Year will be made on Tuesday November 8 in Barcelona, Spain, the host city of the World Sailing’s 2016 Annual Conference. The nominees in 2016 are:

Male
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (NZL)
Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic (CRO)
Santiago Lange (ARG)
Giles Scott (GBR)
Damien Seguin (FRA)

Female
Marit Bouwmeester (NED)
Cecilia Carranza Saroli (ARG)
Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze (BRA)
Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR)
Charline Picon (FRA)

Previous recipients of the Rolex World Sailor of the Year Award include:
2015 Peter Burling & Blair Tuke (NZL), Sarah Ayton (GBR)
2014 James Spithill (AUS), Martine Grael & Kahena Kunze (BRA)
2013 Mat Belcher (AUS), Jo Aleh & Polly Powrie (NZL)
2012 Ben Ainslie (GBR), Lijia Xu (CHN)
2011 Iker Martinez & Xabier Fernandez (ESP), Anna Tunnicliffe (USA)
2010 Tom Slingsby (AUS), Blanca Manchon (ESP)
2009 Torben Grael (BRA), Anna Tunnicliffe (USA)
2008 Ben Ainslie (GBR), Alessandra Sensini (ITA)
2007 Ed Baird (USA), Claire Leroy (FRA)
2006 Mike Sanderson (NZL), Paige Railey (USA)
2005 Fernando Echavarri & Anton Paz (ESP), Ellen MacArthur (GBR)
2004 Robert Scheidt (BRA), Sofia Bekatorou & Emilia Tsoulfa (GRE)
2003 Russell Coutts (SUI), Siren Sundby (NOR)
2002 Ben Ainslie (GBR), Sofia Bekatorou & Emilia Tsoulfa (GRE)
2001 Robert Scheidt (BRA), Ellen MacArthur (GBR)
2000 Mark Reynolds & Magnus Liljedahl (USA), Shirley Robertson (GBR)
1999 Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL), Margriet Matthijse (NED)
1998 Ben Ainslie (GBR), Carolijn Brouwer (NED)
1997 Pete Goss (GBR), Ruslana Taran & Elena Pakholchik (UKR)
1996 Jochen Schümann (GER), Lai Shan Lee (HKG)
1995 Russell Coutts (NZL), Isabelle Autissier (FRA)
1994 Peter Blake (NZL) & Robin Knox-Johnston (GBR), Theresa Zabell (ESP)

Source: Richard Aspland – World Sailing