The Swiss sailing delegation did extremely well in Marseille, but the disappointment is still great. Once again, it was not enough for a medal. One thing is clear: there is nothing more difficult in sailing than winning an Olympic medal.
Never before has there been such a Swiss team performance in Olympic sailing: all the sailors returned from Paris with a diploma. Despite this historic exploit, they were denied the medal they had been striving for for over 50 years. Maud Jayet achieved the best result with 4th place in the ILCA 6. Sébastien Schneiter and Arno de Planta in the 49er and Yves Mermod and Maja Siegenthaler in the 470 Mixed both came 8th. In the iQFoil classes, which were represented at the Olympics for the first time, Elia Colombo came 7th and Elena Lengwiler came 6th in the Formula Kite.
Difficult regatta area
The conditions in Marseille were extremely difficult. With mostly little wind and lots of sun, the sailing competitions threatened to degenerate into a doldrums festival. Numerous races had to be postponed or canceled over the twelve days of the regatta. The constant changes frayed the nerves of the participants and even the cracks sometimes collapsed. Illustrative examples were the Spanish Olympic champions Diego Botín and Florian Trittel, who had to accept a 15th and a 16th place in the twelve qualifying heats. Silver medal winners Isaac McHardie and William McKenzie from New Zealand also finished 17th and 18th respectively, which is why they ended up in second place, twelve points behind the winners, despite winning four runs.
Just how difficult the regatta area in Marseille was is revealed by the total number of points scored by the winners. It was significantly higher than in Tokyo and Rio and was indicative of the lack of consistency. This is precisely what the Swiss 49er duo also lacked. Despite several top places (1st to 4th), the overall performance was not enough for a podium finish. Several avoidable penalties marred the brilliant performance of Sébastien and Arno, for example when the boat stick touched the windward buoy and the Swiss, who were sailing in the leading trio, had to turn a penalty circle. Sébastien knows where the problem lay: “Mentally, we kept getting back on our feet. Our weak point was the penalties,” he said after the last race.
Bitter 4th place
Maud Jayet had to digest the biggest disappointment of these Olympic Games. She narrowly missed out on a medal in the ILCA 6. In fourth place before the medal race, she still had a small chance of bronze. To do so, she would have had to produce a flawless run on the last day and leave Norway’s Line Flem Høst two places behind her. Unfortunately, things turned out differently. The hopeful from Lausanne had to settle for a thankless fourth place. The fact that she came away empty-handed was extremely frustrating for Maud, especially after she had improved so much over the last two years. She had not come to finish the Games in fourth place, she said, venting her disappointment, “because only medals count, everything else is worthless”.
Yves Mermod and Maja Siegenthaler, who finished fourth in Tokyo with Linda Fahrni, had some good runs in the 470 mixed, including a win. Due to a disqualification for an early start and a poor placing in the medal race, they dropped back to 8th place.
THE EXCELLENT 7TH PLACE.
Spectacular foiling
The two athletes, who competed in the new Olympic classes iQFoil and Formula Kite, put in a remarkable performance on their debut. Elia Colombo from Ticino narrowly qualified for the final round, but was then eliminated in the quarter-finals despite a good run. Former ice hockey player Elena Lengwiler, who has only been surfing the Formula Kite for three years, put in a furious debut. As only six of the planned sixteen qualifying races were sailed, the St. Gallen native was unable to make full use of her skills. Particularly annoying: she finished ahead of six-time world champion Daniela Moroz from the USA in the semi-final, but then received a penalty and was relegated to 2nd place. As a result, she missed out on a place in the final and had to bury her medal dreams. The two new foil classes delivered what they promised: they offered the audience a great spectacle. The races only last a few minutes each, but are hard to beat in terms of intensity. However, the complicated finals system could put the brakes on the up-and-coming Formula Kite as an Olympic discipline. It remains to be hoped that those responsible will go over the books and simplify it so that it can also be understood by non-experts.
Encouraging balance sheet
Although the medal hopes were not fulfilled, the Swiss sailors did extremely well. They are clearly among the best in the world. All of them made it to the final round and all of them went home with a diploma. The work of the Swiss Sailing Team has paid off. A look at the final rankings shows that the Olympic regattas are still the most demanding sailing competitions in the world. Not even the fiercely contested World and European Championships come close to their complexity. The Olympics are incredibly competitive and the standard is extremely high. It is not enough to achieve good results two years before the Games to stand on the winners’ podium. If you’re aiming for precious metal, you have to be a high-flyer.
For Christian Scherrer, Team Manager of the Swiss Sailing Team, the experience gained at the Olympics and the team’s performance are clearly more important than the medal they missed out on. “The athletes put in a top performance,” he sums up. “Of course we wanted a medal, but every regatta is different and it just wasn’t meant to be. Not much was missing and there were small mistakes that took their revenge. Switzerland took a total of nine fourth places at these Olympic Games. We’ll do better next time.” The number of diplomas has no impact on the Swiss Sailing Team’s budget, but consolidates the position of sailing in Swiss Olympic’s highest category. Christian Scherrer does not want to comment on the next campaign, as that would be premature. “Everyone needs to rest now and see what went well and what didn’t go so well. Everyone has shown great commitment. Of course, I would be delighted if the athletes who only just missed out on the podium were to continue, but the decision is up to them. They have to be motivated. In any case, we have gained a lot of experience over the last three years, which we can pass on to the next generation.” They will then try to win a Swiss sailing medal in four years’ time.
©Sander van der Borch – AT THE FORMULA KITE ONLY SIX OF THE SIXTEEN PLANNED RACES HAPPENED – NOT ENOUGH FOR ELENA LENGWILER, WHO COULD NOT EXPLOIT HER POTENTIAL.