Nikola Qualifies

“Ballistic Winds on The Bay of Cadiz”   “Racing Blown off By 40 Knot Gusts”.

These were the headlines of the RSX World Championship news feeds…definitely a championship that will go down in windsurfing history as one of the windiest regattas ever.

I have always loved strong wind, but this regatta topped it all. I never thought I would say that I wanted 15+knots less! Needless to say, we had 3 of 7 days cancelled because we were blown out.

I went to the World Championships with two goals:

(1) Qualify myself for the Olympics (2) A top 10 finish.

I am super happy and proud that I was able to achieve both these goals: I finished 10th overall, my best RSX World Championship result yet and it’s the first time a Canadian RSX windsurfer has made the Medal Race at the World Champs!

My 10th place overall equals a 7th in the country standings…and because there is only one person per nation at the Games, it’s already a lot closer and a big step towards standing on the podium!

Being happy however, doesn’t necessarily mean that I am satisfied…

I know with absolute certainty that I can do better, that I can be on the podium and that in the coming 4 months I will need to address all the areas that need fine tuning, the key things that hold me back, and those things that add costly points to my result.

I lost too many points on fundamentals like starting and board-handling.

I went swimming too many times – perhaps telling me that I need to pull the throttle back a bit at times and that I needed to shift my focus.

When analyzing my strengths and weaknesses, it’s quite nice to know that my weaknesses are obvious and that they can be ‘easily’ fixed, which gives me a list of definitive and definable goals to work on making for some very purposeful and focused training sessions coming up.

Of course I realize that nothing is ‘easily’ fixed or else I would be perfect at it by now, but at least I know that the first step in fixing something is acknowledging the areas I am weak in and I’m working towards a plan of attack to fix them.

I am super proud and excited to represent Canada at the London 2012 Olympic Games as the sole Canadian Female representative in RSX Windsurfing.

The exciting part is that this time around, I am a real player for a podium spot.

I couldn’t have achieved this feat without the help of so many –

A huge thank you goes out to my support team (my coach Jason Rhodes, Tom, Chad, James, Dana, David, Alicia), those that help ease the financial burdens (Wind Athletes Canada, CYA, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club’s Corinthian Fund, Canadian Athletes Now Fund, Chapman Land Surveying, USANA, Helly Hansen, Kaenon), and everyone including my friends and my family for being there for me over the many years!!!

I’m on my home now and I look forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight…

A few days of rest is definitely in order and then I’m back at it.

Training for London….woot woot 🙂