CSYS Trials Camp Wraps Up in Clearwater

January 7, 2020

Sailors fly home from Clearwater today as the first Canadian Sailing Youth Squad trails camp comes to an end.

The camp lasted five days with 45 sailors partaking in fitness, on-water sessions and in-classroom sessions each day. Each sailor in attendance was selected from over 200 applicants, who were identified through a series of Regionals Talent ID Camps and Nationals YOTS (Youth Olympic Training Seminar Camps) which took place ahead of the Sail Canada Youth Championships.

"Selection from this type of camp is something new for sailing at the National level. Results were put aside and skill, commitment, physical metrics, coachability and other factors were used to select a shortlist of athletes to nominate to this team. With selection comes both joy and heartbreak, both equally understandable but not one of the athletes involved need be dismayed, they are amongst the best and each and every one of them have the opportunity to succeed both in sailing and more importantly in life. High-Performance sport is inherently “unfair” as some are not selected, only a handful will make their ultimate goal, but instilling a commitment to success is fundamental to Canada’s future abilities to measure up at the international level."
Ken Dool - National Performance Coach

The goal of the camp was to bring together Canada’s best youth sailors across all classes, along with Canada’s top coaches to make the ultimate selection for the 2020 Canadian Sailing Youth Squad.

Sailors were given the opportunity to talk to coaches about where they fit in the Sail Canada performance pathway and explore which class they best fit into to succeed in high-performance sailing. Additionally, they spent some time trying out different classes and even had the chance to sail Nacra 15s with US Olympic Coach Robbie Daniel.

Clearwater delivered great sailing conditions with lots of wind and big waves. The camp wrapped up yesterday with a fun and competitive morning of medal racing.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to attend this camp, I had never attended a camp quite like it before. Because this was a selection camp, the intensity of the training was high. All of the athletes were so eager to learn everything they could from the great selection of coaches. It was very eye-opening to have the best youth sailors, in both double and single-handed boats, from all over Canada training together. I certainly walked away from this camp excited for what’s to come!
Maddie Gillis, 3x Youth Worlds Team Member

A big thank you to all our Provincial partners and national partners, Sport Canada, Own the Podium and Helly Hansen, this camp would not have been possible without them.