2016 Nominee: Damien Seguin

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 Damien Seguin…

When the choice is to win a gold medal or inspire the next generation of sailors in your country and you pick the latter, it goes some way to explain the character of a person. Fortunately for France’s Damien Seguin he killed two birds with one stone, and it couldn’t have been more deserved.

Born with only one hand, Seguin is never one to make excuses of his disability. Quite the opposite. He harbours ambitions of being the first skipper with a disability to complete the Vendee Globe, but on his terms. No changes, no adaptations, no exceptions, no excuses. The best sailor wins.

That philosophy is how he approaches every regatta. If he is the best, he will win. And win he did as the nomination period started with the Para World Sailing Championship title and Sailing World Cup double in Melbourne, Australia at the end of 2015.

In a class jam packed with multiple world champions, Paralympic champions and Sailing World Cup winners, Seguin was on the podium at both Sailing World Cup Hyeres and the 2016 Para Worlds in Medemblik, the Netherlands in the run up to the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.

The time had come. Chasing a third Paralympic medal Seguin stayed in contention at the top of the fleet in every race. As the pressure grew and sailors around him began to falter, the always relaxed Seguin continued to sail the only way he knew how. Cool, calm, collected and in contention.

With sailors and friends from his disabled sailing association in France making the journey to Brazil to line the shore and support their star, Seguin could not and would not disappoint. He had guaranteed himself another Paralympic medal with one race to go, but he wanted that gold.

In the final race Seguin kept the only sailor that could challenge him, the London 2012 Paralympic champion Helena Lucas, behind him. The gold and the inspiration he craved was his.

Ironically, before a Rio 2016 race even started, Seguin had that inspiration already, but such is his humble nature he is the only one that couldn’t see it. Seguin is the type of person that will say the gold is for all those that have helped him and that he has inspired, but for everyone else, that gold was just for him, he had earned it.

Bigger things are to come for the ever pleasant and courteous Seguin, but inspiration is his now.

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