Fourteen more young athletes completed the fitness combine over the weekend in a bid to make Team BDA in the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, bringing the total number of candidates to try out thus far to 64.
Since the launch of the Team BDA campaign on July 14, 101 candidates have expressed interest to join the team by filling out an application online. The Team BDA Committee will hold a third fitness combine in December as part of its commitment to audition as many athletes as possible.
“Our goal is to build the greatest young sailing team the country has ever seen, made up of the best athletes in our community regardless of their sailing experience,” said Jane Savage, Team BDA Chairperson.
By early 2016 the selection committee hopes to identify a squad of 18 of the best sailors and athletes who, with intensive training and coaching, will be equipped to compete with the world’s best young sailors in foiling high performance catamarans.
Team Bermuda will be training and racing in the Great Sound before a hometown crowd as they face other youth teams from around the world in June 2017. The Red Bull Youth America’s Cup in Bermuda will take place on one-design foiling AC45 catamarans – the same boats the professionals will use in the Louis Vuitton America’s Cup World Series events in 2015 and 2016.
Candidate Greg Maybury, agreed to write a first person account of his fitness combine experience “I think it's only normal to be nervous when you venture into something that's entirely new to you. While fitness testing wouldn’t be a foreign concept to the athletes in attendance on Saturday morning, the possibility of earning a place in Bermuda's Red Bull Youth America's Cup team was enough to bring about anxiety.
From the moment you begin check-in, it becomes obvious that this isn’t your average training session. I was asked immediately if I had eaten that morning before I filled out multiple forms and waivers in front of several cameras. Five staff members were needed to carry out this process for us, and while I appreciated their well wishes, there comes a point where “good luck” sounds more concerning than encouraging.
The actual fitness aspect seemed to race by in a blur. We were escorted from the Clock Tower Mall to one of the old machine shop buildings, now repurposed to be as modern a gym as any on island. Warm ups lasted two minutes before it was my group’s turn to sprint and do pull-ups followed by push-ups. The session, up until this point, was no more taxing than a normal work out.
It was compounding this with the sailing-simulating ‘grinder’ that gave us difficulty in lifting the water bottles we so desperately needed after. The machine was set to a high resistance and we weren’t allowed to stop for a full minute. The resulting burn was like nothing you could naturally do to your arms through lifting or pushing.
Finally, we were challenged to tread water and swim both traditionally and under water.
This stage was not measured but simply observed to ensure each person could survive in the sea despite extreme fatigue. Even though all four members in my group were able to complete this, there were no longer any questions as to the presence of life guards and ambulance personnel.
To my knowledge, the selection process has not yet begun, but I’d like to congratulate all the athletes who took part in the trials. It’s a truly humbling experience to attempt a new sport, especially when you’re accustomed to excelling in one that you already play. Perhaps the author Jim Rohn said it best: “If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary”.
I think I speak for all of my peers when I say it would be an honor to represent Bermuda in such prestigious event and I wish the successful applicants all the best in competition.
