In Marseille, where the Paris 2024 sailing regattas will be held from Sunday, everything is ready - and so is the Swiss delegation.
27.07.2024, 05:00
27.07.2024, 10:04
SDA
Switzerland will be competing in five of the ten classes in Marseille - and with justified ambitions. Christian Scherrer, Team Manager of the Swiss Sailing Team, speaks plainly: "We want to win a medal - the starting position hasn't been this good for a long time. We are aware that individual details will be decisive in the end and that it often takes a bit of luck. But we are as well prepared as possible and we have an impressive breadth in the team."
Among the strongest athletes in the Swiss Sailing Team are Sébastien Schneiter (28) and Arno de Planta (25) on the 49er. This will be Schneiter's third Olympic Games - his expectations and goals are correspondingly clear: "Simply taking part again after Rio and Tokyo would not have been enough motivation for me. Together with Arno, we defined a medal as the goal for our campaign right from the start."
The 49er class has been dominated by the Dutch duo Bart Lambriex/Floris van de Werken in recent years. The 2021, 2022 and 2023 world champions will be challenged by Spain's Diego Botin/Florian Trittel Paul and the current world champions Erwan Fischer/Clément Pequin from France.
Jayet's second attempt
Maud Jayet (28) is a two-time runner-up on the ILCA 6. At her Olympic premiere in Tokyo, she fell into a negative spiral after a mediocre start and was unable to realize her potential - now she has gained in consistency and does not hang her head even after a bad run. Jayet is looking forward to the regattas in Marseille: "In Tokyo, all the restrictions surrounding the pandemic affected my preparation - that was very difficult. Now the preparation is easier, even if the pressure is similar to that in Japan." Once again, Tokyo Olympic champion and reigning world champion Anne-Marie Rindom from Denmark will start as the favorite on the ILCA 6.
Kitesurfer Elena Lengwiler (28) recently made an exclamation mark. After finishing in 23rd place at the 2023 World Championships in The Hague in the summer and thus far from a quota place, she continued on her path undeterred and was rewarded. With a commanding victory at the Last Chance Regatta in Hyères in April this year, she secured the quota place for Switzerland and herself a ticket to the Games.
The favorites among the female kiters are France's Lauriane Nolot and England's Eleanor Aldridge. Daniela Moroz from the USA, who has dominated for many years, has recently struggled to keep up with the front runners. Nevertheless, ten of the only 20 eligible female kiters will reach the finals - and almost anything is possible in the Formula Kite class with two semi-finals and a final (each with bonus points). Forwards as well as backwards.
Several premieres
Elia Colombo (28) is experiencing a double premiere. The Ticino native is looking forward to his first Olympic Games - on the iQ-Foil, which is being used for the first time. "There was a big upheaval among windsurfers after Tokyo - so most of us are Olympic newcomers," says Colombo. With his refreshing and carefree manner, he will face the unpredictability in Marseille. Elia Colombo's declared goal is to reach the medal series of the top ten: "Then anything is possible." World champion Nicolò Renna (ITA), Luuc van Opzeeland (NED) and Grae Morris (AUS) are among the closest favorites.
There will also be a premiere in the 470 class: the tried-and-tested 470 dinghy, which has been on the Olympic program for men since 1976 and for women since 1988, will be sailed "mixed" for the first time. As a result, the cards were completely reshuffled. The preparation time was therefore exceptionally short, and not just for Yves Mermod (27) and Maja Siegenthaler (31). Their advantage: Siegenthaler will be taking part in the Olympic Games as a foresailor for the third time and is therefore one of the most experienced sailors in the field. The strongest teams include Xammar/Brugman (ESP), Okada/Yoshioka (JPN) and Lecointre/Mion (FRA).
