Malaysians to train under Olympic Champions

Australia’s Tessa Parkinson and Belinda Stowell to share know how in Monsoon Sailing School

Putrajaya, Malaysia, 23 July 2010 - The lure of the Monsoon Sailing School has proved irresistible to Australia’s Olympic champions Tessa Parkinson and Belinda Stowell, who have come on board as coaches.

Parkinson, who won Olympic gold in the 470 class with Elise Rechichi in China two years ago, is one of five coaches for the four-day Monsoon Sailing School which will be opened by the Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek next Thursday.

Stowell was a gold medalist in the 470 Class with Jenny Armstrong at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She is currently the head coach of sailing at the Western Australian Institute of Sport. The other coaches are Torvar Mirsky and Kinley Fowler, skipper and mainsheet trimmer of Mirsky Racing Team who finished runners-up in the 2009 World Match Racing Tour Championship and Brad Sheridan, who helped Singapore win a sailing gold medal in the last Asian Games.

All five Australians will share their experience with 10 Elite Malaysian sailors handpicked by the Malaysian Yachting Association (MYA) and 18 other top sailors from around the country.

Initiated in 2009 under the patronage of the Malaysia Ministry of Youth and Sports, Monsoon Sailing School is the perfect training opportunity for teams vying to participate in the Malaysian and Asian Match Racing Championship of the Monsoon Cup as participants will train on the actual yachts used in Monsoon Cup. Four F-36 match racing yachts have been brought down from Terengganu, Malaysia especially for the event to be held at Maritime Centre, Precinct 5 Putrajaya.

Parkinson works with the Yachting Foundation in Western Australia, taking corporate clients out sailing on the Swan River in Perth and agreed to coach in Malaysia through her links with her mentor Peter Gilmour, who is the Monsoon Cup Race Advisor.

“I’m delighted to be here in Malaysia for the Monsoon Sailing School. I’m sure it will be a unique experience for me and the sailors,” said Parkinson. “I’m looking forward to working with some of Malaysia’s best sailors.”

Meanwhile, Monsoon Cup Race Advisor, Peter Gilmour, said: “We are ecstatic that not one, but two Olympic champions and three very highly rated coaches have come to the Monsoon Sailing School this year. We definitely have an all-star line-up here. Their combined experiences cover the Asian Games, Olympics and the World Match Racing Tour.”

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