Australian National Champion RS:X Olympic Class
Saturday, 20 Jan, 2007
Windsurfer, Allison Shreeve from Sydney, has just completed six days of competition at the Grade 1 international regatta Sail Melbourne, coming away as the Australian Champion in the RS:X Olympic class.
A week that saw every wind and wave condition possible, Shreeve showed consistency throughout holding 2nd place through the first five days of the regatta, behind three time Olympic medallist and the current world champion, Alessandra Sensini from Italy. During that time Shreeve was the only competitor in the class fleet to seriously rival Sensini by taking out first place over the finish line in two of the races, and was consistently within striking distance.
Pleased with her performance over the week Shreeve added “this was a great training exercise for me to be able to race against the world’s best Olympic class windsurfer in such a variety of conditions, and do so well. I was frustrated somewhat by equipment failure on a daily basis that will need to be addressed somehow. I don’t want to work hard in training and competition, only to be let down by gear failure.” During the week’s racing, Shreeve had to replace five broken battens, and her sail after a stainless steel pulley essential for downhaul snapped in half.
The two-time Formula Windsurfing World Champion, PWA World Champion and current No.1 in the world rankings, Shreeve has put her professional windsurfing career on hold to pursue her Olympic ambitions in the RS:X Class. With her Olympic trials coming up in Europe in the next six months, Allison is using the local events in Australia and New Zealand over the summer to fine tune her sailing.
Shreeve, now back in Sydney will re-group before heading to Auckland with her training partner from Germany, for her next RS:X Olympic regatta this week.
