Check out this article which our former Laser champ wrote abt Iain Percy. Iain Percy, Olympic Gold Medallist By Ben Tan 4 January 2001 Iain Percy instantaneously became one of Britain's great Olympic heroes when he ousted World Champion Fredrik Loof (Sweden) and defending Olympic Champion Mateusz Kusznierewicz (Poland) to clinch the Gold Medal in the Finn Class (sailing) of the recently concluded Sydney 2000 Olympics. His was one of three Golds won by Great Britain in the sailing events. The nation's impressive haul attracted the attention of sailors and administrators the world over, all of whom were scrambling to study the systematic and successful programme put in place by the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) more than four years ago. Yours sincerely was fortunate enough to get an insider's analysis of the British sailing programme when we met in Scotland recently. I knew Iain from years ago, during his Laser days. He made the switch to the Finn only two years ago, in 1998. At that time, Iain weighed in at 89kg, and he has since endowed himself with a full armour of muscles to reach a competitive weight of 98kg prior to the Olympics. "Five days a week of hard work at the gym!" was his answer when asked how he did it. The Finn, like the Laser, is a physically demanding single-handed boat except that the Finn requires a heavier frame because of its larger sail area. The 24-year old Economics graduate strongly believes that systematic training is the key to success. In the two years leading up the Olympics, Iain spent five days a week training with three other equally committed full-time Finn sailors. All were fully financed by the RYA so that every one of the four British Finn sailors could concentrate on sailing and improve as a group, providing quality sparring for one another. (In the Laser class, there were eight full-time sailors under the RYA.) Instead of simply travelling on the racing circuit throughout the season, the four spent a significant amount of time systematically training together in Hayling Island and learning from one another. The training was periodized to allow the sailors to peak at selected events only. Their able coach was there to organize the training sessions - setting the time and place, laying the marks, and conducting the drills. The technical stuff like sail tuning and the finer points of sailing technique, came not so much from the coach, but rather from the sparring partners, who obviously had first-hand experience at the highest competitive level. A typical training week comprised five days of sailing, five days of gym, and three days of endurance training (usually 90 minutes of cycling). Although Finn sailing is an individual sport, teamwork among sparring partners is crucial. Information is shared and not guarded selfishly. That way, the team's standard rises as a whole, and each team member then has a higher chance of beating other rivals at the regattas. But how does one keep the team training together after the Olympic trials, when only one sailor is selected to go to Sydney? "Simple," says Iain, "The RYA plans are long-term, and the sailors that aren't selected for the Olympics are sent to other big events instead of being dumped. That motivated them to continue sparring and pushing the winner of the selection trials, all the way to the Olympics." Behind his success was a team of excellent sport scientists. Iain added that their "full time physiologist for the whole sailing team was a great help. He provided strength and conditioning advice, like setting different target heart rates for cycling, rowing, and running. I had to avoid running because of the impact on the knees, so I did lots of cycling instead. Ben Ainslie [2000 Olympic Laser Gold Medallist] relied heavily on cycling as well. We all wore Polar® heart rate monitors. Our dietician was a part-timer, but that was all right since the physiologist knew quite a lot about supplementation. As the designated team physiotherapist could not be with each individual team member all the time, she arranged a network of physiotherapists and sports masseuse around the country to see to our needs. We were all issued vouchers which where accepted by this network of specialists." Did this master of heavy seas and downwind sailing receive any financial rewards for winning the Gold? "No, there are no financial rewards for winning. What we get are indirect benefits like endorsements, invitations to give talks and run sailing clinics, and opportunities to sail big boats [where the money is]," answers Iain, who is now the CEO of a coaching company called Competitive Sailing. The motivation to win comes from within - not from financial gains, as exemplified by great fellow Laser sailors like Iain Percy and Ben Ainslie. They are the ones who make me proud of being a Laser sailor.