Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 2 - Ian Walker
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Shirley Robertson's Sailing Podcast - Series 1 - Episode 2 - Ian Walker
There aren't many people in world sailing that have as many strings to their bow as British sailing's Ian Walker. But this podcast isn't just a chat about sailing. Ian's success around the race course is well documented, but he is a remarkable man, a thinker, with a cerebral approach to the sport that has finessed throughout all his years out on the water. But he's also a man that's known tragedy, adversity, and sadness, and in this candid interview with a man that also counts as a very dear friend, we talk all manner of topics, as I spend an hour in conversation with one of British sailing's leading characters.
His competitive career started in the Olympic arena with campaigns that led to silver medals in both Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000. And then for the Athens Olympics of 2004 Ian turned to coaching, guiding myself and my team to a gold medal in the Yngling class, my second consecutive gold, and a milestone in my career.
His Olympic experience though makes up but a fragment of Ian's competitive experience. Following the Sydney games of 2000 Walker was straight into the America's Cup arena, skippering Britain's first Cup challenge in over a decade down in Auckland, New Zealand.
And as if that wasn't enough, Walker has also skippered three Volvo Ocean Race campaigns, three times leading a team of sailors around the planet on sport's longest, most gruelling endurance event. By the third campaign, on Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Walker's determination was relentless. As the race concluded, the team had enough points to win with one leg to spare, taking the illusive trophy in emphatic fashion.
Today, you can find Ian Walker behind a desk, nurturing Britain's Olympic sailing talent as Director of Racing at the RYA. It's a challenging role, the British Sailing team are the most successful Olympic sailing team of this millennium, a period of success that Walker himself helped kick off with those early silver medals. But as a former team mate, who's also been coached by Walker, I know our sport in the UK is in very good hands.