Smooth sailing for Sam Meech as World Champs approach

Sam Meech. Photo / Getty Images

Sam Meech knows it pays to be ready for anything if you want to be successful.

The Olympic bronze medallist sailor has been training in the lead up to August's World Championships in Denmark, taking on wild weather in Sydney in the process.

After starting the year with some strong form and finishing on the podium in all but two of the regattas he has attended, the Kiwi, who races in the laser class, hoped over the ditch to train with some Australian sailors.

"We had some pretty insane conditions – we got up close to 40 knots one of the days we were out training, which is pretty fresh," he said. "For us to get out in New Zealand in those sorts of conditions is pretty hard because just getting off the beach is difficult enough...experiencing some new stuff that's for sure.

"The Aussies are some of the best in the world, so to have the chance to go sail with them for a week is a massive gain and having that relationship's awesome."

August's World Championship regatta in Denmark will be the first opportunity nations have to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Meech said his goal in the build up to the event was simply to race with consistency and continue to be in with a chance to medal.

So far, so good for the 27-year-old.

He was confident that he and his fellow New Zealand sailors heading to the event would qualify across all classes they were racing in – with a strong contingent heading over.
And while he's been getting the results, Meech has taken a slightly different approach to how he goes about his work .

"I've been doing a little bit less sailing, or some different stuff. It's been a little bit of a different year, but I'm just trying to find things that I'm enjoying and enjoy the sport rather than getting tied down with all the training. It can be pretty hard, especially over winter. At the moment training in New Zealand is pretty difficult – cold, windy and it can be pretty brutal.

"Taking a little bit of time off at the right times is huge. It' not always completely time off. Often you go off and do a different sport, you're keeping training, just in different ways. I think it makes it a lot more sustainable."