SAILING: National champion sailor Elliot Hanson is set for a Christmas in the sunshine as he flies out to Sydney to represent Great Britain in the Australian Youth and National Championships.
As European under-21 and national open age champion in the Laser Radial sailing class, the King’s School Sixth Form student heads an elite three-man team flying out to Australia.
Elliot, aged 16, from Prestbury, sees his Australian adventure as another stepping-stone on his quest for gold, aiming for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
He said: "I have my sights firmly set on gaining an Olympic gold. British sailors have an outstanding record in the Olympics and role models such as Macclesfield-born Ben Ainslie have shown exactly what is possible."
Already selected as one of 16 athletes tipped by SportsAid for 2016, Elliot has also won a Talented Athletes’ Sports Scholarship.
However, such awards don’t meet the expense of the sport, as he and his father Mark travel the length and breadth of the country nearly every weekend, either for national squad training sessions at Weymouth, where the 2012 Olympic sailing regatta will be staged, or to top competitions nationwide.
Elliot will also have to find £1,500 to fund his Australian trip, but said: "It’s actually great value for three weeks training in Australia."
Elliot began at the age of nine when his dad took him down to Redesmere and he remains a keen member at the Macclesfield club. He added: "It’s a great club and gave me the passion for the sport."
He now needs to hone his ever-developing skills at sea and said: "It’s a very physical sport, so you need to be fit, strong and agile, but you also have to great tactical awareness."
Elliot is hoping to graduate to the Olympic Laser Standard class soon, and wants to follow in the wake of current Olympic champion Paul Goodison.
Elliot added: "I am sure Paul will be selected for GB at London, it is a sport that really benefits from experience." Elliot combines his tough training regime with a successful academic life at King’s.
Sixth Form principal Tim Andrew said: "It’s wonderful to have a potential Olympic champion in our Sixth Form and I know all his friends at King’s will be following his career closely over the next decade and beyond."
