Photo: PHOTOSPORT
New Zealand's first five sailors selected for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games represent Aotearoa's future on the water.
The young squad named for the racing in Marseille will compete in four sailing classes.
Tom Saunders (ILCA 7), Micah Wilkinson and Erica Dawson (Nacra 17), and Veerle ten Have and Josh Armit (iQFOIL) were officially selected at Wakatere Boating Club on Auckland's North Shore on Wednesday.
Of the initial sailing selection, only Wilkinson and Dawson have previous Olympic experience, with the pair having competed in the mixed multihull at Tokyo 2020.
Further crews will be considered for selection to the New Zealand Team following a series of upcoming competition.
Armit and ten Have are set to represent New Zealand in the new discipline of iQFOIL (windfoiling) and will reach speeds of up to 50kph as they compete off the coast of Marseille, where the Olympic sailing competition will be held.
"Representing New Zealand on the biggest stage is incredibly exciting and it took me a few days to process the news," ten Have said.
"Making the team is only one step, however, and now it's all about performing in Marseille."
Ten Have, 23, has established herself among the leading female windfoilers in the world, despite only sailing in the class for a little over two years. She won bronze at last year's season-opening World Cup in Spain and finished sixth at the Olympic test event in Marseille in July.
"We won't be in the Olympic village in Paris with many of the other New Zealand athletes, but I can already feel the sense of togetherness among the group and that is something we will all be relying on to lift our performances."
Twenty-two-year-old Armit enjoyed a breakthrough season in 2023, finishing in the top 10 in several key European regattas, with his seventh at the combined sailing world championships in The Hague in August a highlight.
"It's a really cool event," said Armit. "We're flying above the water now with these foils and I just love the speed and freedom of it, it's a really exciting sport."
Armit was one of the most talked-about youth sailors in the country when he won the boys Laser Radial (now ILCA 6) at the 2018 youth sailing world championships but he decided to take a break from the sport after struggling with the transition to the ILCA 7.
His hiatus didn't last long, however, as Armit discovered windfoiling in late 2020 and soon established himself as New Zealand's top male competitor.
While ten Have and Armit are relatively new to their classes, Saunders has been one of the world's leading ILCA 7 (formerly Laser) sailors for much of the past decade.
In 2021, he became only the second Kiwi - and the first since Nik Burfoot in 1994 - to win the class world championships with his triumph in Barcelona.
Tom Saunders, Photo: William Booth
Saunders, whose brother Jason represented New Zealand at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, will make his Olympic debut.
"There's a definite sense of pride and relief to be selected after three Olympic cycles - 12 full years of campaigning," the 31-year-old Tauranga sailor said.
"To be part of a bigger team and to represent our country along with top athletes from other sports is very special and something that I will be embracing. Winning a medal is what we've been working toward for a long time, and I know I have the potential to get on that podium in France."
Wilkinson, 28, and Dawson, 29, have been sailing together since 2019 and had their first taste of the Olympics in Tokyo, finishing just outside the top 10 despite Dawson breaking her leg in a training accident only a month out from the showpiece.
New Zealand sailors Erica Dawson and Micah Wilkinson. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
NZOC CEO Nicki Nicol extended her congratulations to the athletes.
"We're really pleased to have named these exciting athletes to our Olympic team," said Nicol.
"It's great to have a mix of youth of experience in this initial squad and we look forward to growing this team with further selections in the coming months."
New Zealand has a proud Olympic sailing legacy, having collected 23 medals since the first won by Peter Mander and Jack Cropp at Melbourne in 1956.
Sailing at Paris 2024 is due to get underway on 28 July and conclude on 8 August.