My News for You

Hi there,

Just a few words from me now I'm back from the Olympics. The weather conditions down in China weren't the best at times and for those who've followed me either through the internet or on TV (or just maybe even in China) will know. None of this really helped any of us sailors at all especially when you're ready to race and for whatever reasons the race gets called off or delayed.

This means we have to start getting ready all over again (oh ) and for some of us it is not the easiest of things to do. No wind - no race, thunderstorms - no race, too light or too strong winds - for me - difficult race. Of course, the more experienced sailors know how to use those winds in a way so as not to affect their performances so much but it's not always that easy

There have been times when some sailors have been disqualified for whatever reason and it has had an effect on positions too for a single race. Because of the rules though, each athlete has their worst race taken away from their total points score which gives a more realistic view of where each athlete really is overall and allows the best sailors through to the Medal races.

The medals in my catogory, for those interested, went to China (Gold) (Did u really expect anybody else? ), Italy (Silver) and Great Britain (Bronze). Athena (my training partner (from Greece )) finished 15th overall 10 points off the medal race whereas I finished 21st ahead of some countries you'd expect a better position from them (e.g. USA)

I like to thank all my sponsors who've helped me out in various ways leading up to Beijing including VisitAyiaNapa for giving me a website to express myself and keep my followers updated. I'd also like to that the local media too for reporting my results too.

For now it's a little rest, then back to racing on the water using my experience from the Olympic Games to help me improve. Bye for now.

Link: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SA/C73/SAW102910.shtml#SAW102910

So we've finally completed the 10 races with all sorts of conditions during the races.

The final race proved to be one of my best ending in 16th but this time not moved up a place via a disqualification. It looks as I've found the speed which I am best at. Again a wind of 7 knots (3 beaufort) brought me my best position. I finished in the same position as Athens overall (http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/SA/C74A/SAW102000.shtml#SAW102910) so it is a good thing and a great experience to use in future events.

Overall, I can be satisfied with my position and look forward to London 2012 which may be 4 years away but will be in my thoughts in the races which I will take place in especially in the races closer to the time.

Finally, a note on my training partner from Greece, Athina Frai, who missed out by 10pts a top 10 finish ending up in 15th overall and the Gold Medal race takes pace tommorow at 13.00hrs Beijing time.

So, our Olympics maybe over but we will both be back for another Olympics.

The last few days have been very unstable. On Friday we only managed to get 1 race done because of the conditions, starting at 9knots and ending at 12knots I managed to finish in 16th place, my best finish so far but was classed 15th eventually. A storm then arose forcing the cancellation of the start & we eventually raced late in the evening.

On Sunday I managed only 23rd (after the last race a disapointment) and the next race I managed 25th. 16knots (4 Beaufort) at the start falling dramaticly as the race went on, the 2nd race 22knots to 20knots (6/5 Beaufort).

Today, the wind was fairly good (5 beaufort/16-7knots) but I couldn't manage much better than previous days ending in 22nd place and the next race I finished in 20th with the wind starting a light brezze, falling in the middle only to rise again.

Overall, with a race to go I'm in 22nd spot with a good chance to go higher and can only drop another place unless I have a disastorous last race. The same thing applies to go higher - I need a great race and the others to have a bad one.

So, tommorow will be my last race & hope to go better than the previous races.

I was due to have two races today but poor weather conditions have cancelled almost all of today's races including mine.

They have been rescheduled for 12.00 and 13.00 hrs tomorrow weather permitting.

Link: http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/SA.shtml

Hi there,

The competition has begun and on the first day I managed a 19th place (out of 27 athletes) in the first race which took place in a very light breeze at around 8knts (or 3 Beaufort) in a time of about 42mins. In the second race of the day, I finished in 22nd in a time of around 33 1/2 mins in similar conditions but further behind the leader.

As for today, and moving to QDM course Area B, we were waiting for the wind to pick up so we couldn't race on time and we eventually had a 2 hour delay before the first race finaly started. I finished in 23rd place and in the 2nd race of the day I finished a place higher after recovering from a poor start. Weather conditions were the same as yesterday with only a light breeze around.

Overall after 4 races my position is 22nd with another 6 races to go before the medal race takes place. Tomorrow is a rest day so I can recover physically and mentally to go for a place in the final race - the medal race.