PAN AM SAILING TEST

CCNTV6

T&T Sailor Steffan Stuven is hoping to make the country proud as he prepares to compete at the Pan American Junior Championships in Paraguay.  Stuven believes he is ready for the competition which begins next month after coming out of a tough outing at the North American Championships in California.

Transcript

00:00Racing against the best can bring out your best.

00:04And for TNT sailor Stefan Steuven, it was a baptism of fire at the Olympic course regatta.

00:09He finished the 47th out of 52 sailors.

00:13One of the most challenging regattas I've been to, especially with the stiff competition

00:19that was there.

00:21It was massive names in the sports, names that have gotten 14 medals over 14 different

00:27world championships, like Pablo Scantides from Cyprus.

00:32He's gone to four or five Olympics, came second three times in the Olympics.

00:37There was names like Stefano Pacera, who is third place in Tokyo 2021.

00:44Steuven said he struggled gaining confidence to race against the big names, but he described

00:49it as a learning experience.

00:51Most importantly, he embraced the importance of having a strong mind.

00:56In the whole entirety of the regatta, I was in that headspace of fear to be on the start

01:02line and how it could just affect your judgment and your performance.

01:06He said he got his best experience as the competition wore on.

01:11We did 11 races in total.

01:13To the last day, I really started to face my fear of starting next to these huge names that

01:21I can start, I am able, I have the know-how, I have the skills, it's just to put it all

01:27together.

01:28And the last day was actually when I got my best races of 31st and 34th.

01:34His next tournament will not have a stacked field of top experience to sailors as he races

01:40in his first ever Junior Pan American Games in Asunción, Paraguay.

01:43However, it's just as challenging as he says only one sailor will progress to the senior

01:49Pan American Games.

01:50Extremely more confident, especially with this experience on wake-up call, how fear and

01:58your mental could affect your sailing.

02:02And I'm working with my coach right now on that aspect of it, that I've done the training

02:10in Bahamas, I've gone to this regatta, I have now the skills in sailing, now I have to be

02:16able to apply it.

02:17Steuven outlined the three areas he needs to work on to be successful, sailing fast,

02:22being firm on the starting line and being sure of his skills if he is to come away as

02:27the champion of the Pan American Junior Championships.

02:30Sergio Dufour, TV6 Sport.

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