Last week’s cold conditions in the United States did not deter T&T sailor Andrew Lewis as he competed in the Miami World Cup, his first major event for the year.
Lewis was blazing hot and finished 18th overall among the best in the world. This performance was his best result at the World Cup and placed him as the third best in the Western Hemisphere. A similar result at the World Championships in Japan in June will assure the two-time Olympian a spot for in next year’s Tokyo Olympic Games.
In 2015, Lewis was at the top of his game with regular top ten finishes in races around the world with his best performances being 32nd at a World Cup event and sixth at the Pan American Games. It’s history now that Lewis competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics shortly after a near-fatal accident later that year, despite giving his all for his country and still being able to challenge the world’s best he was not 100 per cent.
In 2017 Lewis took a year off to allow his body the opportunity to fully heal and last year, he was back in the boat fully focused with the goal of making it to his third Olympic Games but this time having a different approach to really target an Olympic medal.
Lewis’ goal of an Olympic medal is a particularly difficult one. In the past, he has done his preparation without the valued guidance of a world-class coach due to funding constraints. Fortunately, now thanks to his sponsors Atlantic, Blue Waters, Ford, Republic Bank, Tatil and most recently Tatil Life as well as support from the Prime Minister’s Sport and Culture Fund, he is now working with Javier Hernandez from Spain, himself a former Olympian.
The local sailor and Hernandez have only been working together for three weeks and the partnership has already yielded great results with Lewis’ outstanding results at last weekend’s World Cup race.
Lewis is already feeling a positive change saying, “I can only do so much on my own, I really needed someone with the right perspective to evaluate and guide me and I now have that.”
Hernandez believes that Lewis still has a lot of work to do but with the right training he can get into the finals of the Olympic and from there a medal is a real possibility.
Lewis is looking forward to qualifying for the Olympics this year and thanks to his sponsors, his coach Hernandez, his manager Derek Daniel of Dream Big Management as well as the public for their continued support.