Tunnicliffe targets Olympic gold
ANNA Tunnicliffe may no longer live in the town she grew up in - but the Doncaster-raised sailor is adamant home gold at the London Olympics will be the highlight of her career.
The 27-year-old grew up in Doncaster until the age of 12 and attended McAuley Catholic High School before swapping South Yorkshire for the south of Florida and the shores of Fort Lauderdale.
More than a decade later Tunnicliffe earned international recognition claiming Laser gold for her adopted country on her Olympic debut on the waters of Qingdao in 2008.
Tunnicliffe has since swapped the Laser for Match Racing - new to the Olympic schedule for 2012 - skippering fellow American's Molly Vandemoer from California and New Yorker Deborah Capozzi.
And with the Olympics in 2012 set to take place on the shores of Dorset in less than two years time Tunnicliffe admits winning gold in her country of birth would be more special than her maiden medal.
Tunnicliffe said: "I had success in Beijing but obviously I am in a different boat now but the goal still remains the same - to come away with a gold medal.
"It has been a lot of fun doing match racing and I am glad I changed and hopefully I can return to my birth country and win gold.
"It has been a bit of a long process because Match Racing is completely different to the Laser but I have already learnt so much.
"It took a little while to get used to it all but I am fully in the swing of things now and looking forward to the next two years and to building up to the Olympics.
"But I obviously know I still have a lot to learn and as a sailor you are always learning so there is still a long way to go."
Tunnicliffe made a rare return to the UK last month for the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta in Weymouth - the venue for both the Olympic and Paralympic sailing events.
With the regatta doubling up as the seventh and final leg of the ISAF World Cup series Tunnicliffe was hopeful of beating Lucy MacGregor's British crew to the overall title.
Tunnicliffe's bronze on the day was good enough to oust MacGregor - who finished fifth. However, she had to settle for second overall with Claire Leroy's French team taking the World Cup crown.
"Our main goal at the Sail for Gold Regatta was to simply just come to the venue ahead of the London 2012 Olympics," she added.
"We wanted to win but we have to put everything in perspective and we knew it was a great opportunity to get a taste of what the Olympics will be like.
"It was also a great opportunity to see how other boats from around the world deal with the conditions and go up against the best around the world at the same time."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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