Canada names Tokyo 2020 sailing team

Kingston, ONT (March 18, 2021) – The Canadian Olympic Committee  and Sail Canada announced the nine-member team nominated to represent Team Canada in sailing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games this summer.

The Tokyo 2020 Canadian Sailing Team will include a mix of veterans including four-time Olympian Nikola Girke, Rio 2016 Olympians Tom Ramshaw and Jacob Saunders, as well as Oliver Bone who represented Canada at the 2008 Olympic Games.

They will be joined by young, up-and-coming sailors including 2019 Pan American Games champion Sarah Douglas in the Laser Radial event along with Alexandra (Ali) ten Hove, Mariah Millen, William Jones, and Evan DePaul.

“I am very proud to be selected to the Olympic team and to represent Canada in Tokyo this summer,” said Douglas. “It is going to be different than I dreamed of but any chance to compete for my country on the Olympic stage is a huge honor for me.”

Rio 2016 Olympian Tom Ramshaw adds, “I’m very grateful to have the opportunity to represent Canada at the Olympics again, and am very much looking forward to putting my hard work to the test against the best sailors in the world.”

The sailing competition will be based out of the Enoshima Yacht Harbour and will take place from July 25 to August 4. Medal races for the 10 events will take place each day starting on July 31st.

The sport of sailing has been part of the Olympic program since the first modern Games in 1896, except for St. Louis the 1904 Games. Since then, Canada has won nine Olympic medals (three silver and six bronze) in sailing. This year also marks the 90th anniversary of Sail Canada.

“On behalf of all Sail Canada’s members, I would like to congratulate all of our Olympic athletes for their nomination to the Canadian Olympic Team, especially following a very demanding and challenging year,” said Don Adams, Sail Canada CEO.

“We are very proud of these athletes for their hard work and dedication. I would also like to thank the whole Sail Canada coaching and support team for their hard work over the past Olympic quadrennial in training and preparing our athletes for Tokyo. We look forward to seeing them participate and represent Canada and Sail Canada at the Games.”

The athletes nominated will take part in six of the ten events in Tokyo: Women’s Laser Radial, Men’s Finn, Men’s 470, Women’s 49er FX, Men’s 49er and Women’s RS:X.

The following is the complete list of team members:

Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Sarah Douglas (Toronto, Ont.) – Ashbridges Bay Yacht Club (ABYC)

Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Tom Ramshaw (Toronto, Ont.) – Stony Lake Yacht Club (SLYC) & Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC)

Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Ali ten Hove (Kingston, Ont.) – Kingston Yacht Club (KYC)
Mariah Millen (Toronto, Ont.) – Royal Canadian Yacht Club (RCYC)

Men’s Skiff – 49er
William Jones (Jerseyville, Ont.) – Royal Hamilton Yacht Club (RHYC)
Evan DePaul (Burlington, Ont.) – Royal Hamilton Yacht Club (RHYC)

Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Oliver Bone (Montreal, Que.) – Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS)
Jacob Saunders (Chester, N.S.) – Chester Yacht Club (CYC) / Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS)

Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Nikola Girke (West Vancouver, B.C.) – Royal Vancouver Yacht Club (RVYC)

The Canadian coaching staff will include National Performance Coach Ken Dool (London, Ont.), who will take part in his eighth Olympic Games, two-time Olympian and National Skiff Coach Krzysztof Kierkowski (Sopot, Poland), as well as National Radial Coach Vaughn Harrison (Aurora, Ont.).

Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.

For more details: www.sailing.ca.

Source: Patrick Godbout, Sail Canada

Olympic Sailing Program
Men’s One Person Dinghy – Laser
Women’s One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
Men’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Women’s Two Person Dinghy – 470
Men’s Skiff – 49er
Women’s Skiff – 49erFx
Men’s One Person Dinghy Heavy – Finn
Men’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Women’s Windsurfing – RS:X
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17

Original dates: July 24 to August 9, 2020
Revised dates: July 23 to August 8, 2021

Details: https://tokyo2020.org/en/games/schedule/olympic/