Charlotte Webster, who is fewer than 24 hours away from making her Olympic sailing debut in the Bay of Marseille, France, is not lacking confidence as she prepares for that big moment.
Webster, 20, will sail in the women’s dinghy event, scheduled to take place over five days, from Thursday, competing in two races per day.
She will pick up for team Cayman after siblings Jillian and Jordan Crooks got things going for their nation on Tuesday, during the 100-metre heats and semi-finals.
Should Webster qualify for the medal race, that competition will take place on 6 Aug.
Speaking with the Compass on Wednesday, 31 July, Webster said she understands the bay will be filled with the best sailors, but that won’t deter her from pushing to show the world what she is made of.
“I can say that I am feeling confident in all of my training and preparation going forward into this competition,” Webster said.
“It’s definitely the biggest competition of my life and I know the stakes are high for a lot of the girls, but I feel confident in my ability, and I feel like this training and preparation is going to pay off.”
Webster, who joined swimmer Jordan Crooks as Cayman’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony, is the third female Caymanian sailor ever to represent at the Olympics – Tomeaka McTaggart was the first in 2002, followed by Florence Allan in 2016.
Webster, now cutting her own path through the waves, looks to reach the pinnacle in the sport of sailing for her nation, and the only thing on her mind is to do her best in every race.
“I am really excited for what the next five days hold,” she said. “It’s definitely going to be some of the hardest racing, but I know I’ll learn a lot.”
In addition to Webster’s competition on Thursday, Crooks will return to the pool earlier that day for his 50m heat at 4am Cayman time.
Cayman at the Olympics: How and where to watch
Thursday
Men’s 50m freestyle – heats: 4am on USA, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Men’s 50m freestyle semi-finals: 1:44pm on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Women’s dinghy race: From 1:35am on EuroSport.
Friday
Men’s 50m freestyle final (medal event): 1:30pm on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
- CBC, Eurosport and BBC are also carrying similar coverage for those that have access. If you know of any other channels to access Cayman athletes at the Olympics from Cayman let us know by emailing [email protected].
- Further updates on Team Cayman schedule to follow later in the week.
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