RUSSELL Island sailor Mara Stransky’s campaign to win selection in the Australian team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games has just received a boost.
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The Australian Sports Foundation is helping 18-year-old Mara raise $50,000 for her campaign to take part in the Laser Radials, a women’s single-handed sailing class.
Given her upbringing, sailing is perfectly natural for Mara and it’s thought that if she is successful, she will become the first Russell Island resident to make the Olympics.
She spent most of her teenage life sailing around the world on a 50-foot catamaran with parents, Andrew and Caroline.
A foundation spokesman said although her rapid progression into the Laser class had been far from conventional and her involvement extremely short compared to those of her competitors, she had already progressed to the point where she was in a realistic position to fight for Olympic selection.
“After being involved in the sport of dinghy sailing for just two years, she has achieved the results necessary to progress through her state's underpinning program and into the state high performance program (Queensland Academy of Sport) and national squad (Australian Sailing Squad),” he said.
“This journey so far has taken her from an unknown girl in a country rich in sailing success and history, to one now ranked among the top five Australian females competing in the class.
“These results however do not come without sacrifice as already Mara is required to spend one to two weeks per month training, away from home, at the National Training Centre, travelling overseas at least twice a year to compete in crucial international events and, of course, committing to a high volume training load on and off the water whilst at home which makes maintaining a consistent job difficult.
“Naturally all these things incur considerable expense, not to mention the steep ongoing costs of maintaining and replacing equipment on a regular basis.
“This fundraising program aims to assist Mara in covering the costs of an Olympic sailing campaign over the next three years.”
He said it was a positive for the sport of sailing that a girl had progressed so fast to international standard while still being able to compete in local youth events alongside other young people with big dreams.
In 2016-17, the foundation raised more than $44.65 million for sport, taking total monies raised to more than $100 million over the past three years.
The project donation website is asf.org.au/athletes/mara-stransky/
