On his way to becoming a back-to-back world champion in Adelaide over the past eight days, Australian Olympic gold medallist Matt Wearn wrestled with winds of up to 26 knots and waves as tall as a metre and a half.
But the world-beating sailor from Perth says he's feeling better, at least muscularly, after the ILCA 7 World Championships than he did at the beginning.
"I had a few little niggles going on at the start of the week … but I worked my way into the regatta quite nicely and the body just seemed to be getting stronger and stronger each day," Wearn tells Wide World of Sports.
READ MORE: Fury at surprise twist in Russian teen's doping ban
READ MORE: 'I won't quit': Murray lashes out over 'dumb' column
READ MORE: 'Next Nathan Cleary' in line for 'shock' selection
"We were a little bit unfortunate with the weather leading up to the regatta, so I didn't get much sailing in over the three or fours days leading up, and I think I was almost too fresh.
"The first day we had quite a bit of breeze and the legs just weren't quite there.
"You hear it in other sports with cyclists and stuff after rest days — that feeling where there wasn't enough load in the legs leading up.
"There's definitely that fatigue element to it, for sure, but as far as the muscular fatigue and things like that go, I was starting to feel better and better as the days went on."
Wearn says he headed into the regatta on the back of three rest days, causing his body to feel sleepy throughout the early stages.
But after his "slightly wrong" build-up, as he describes it, he gathered momentum and beat a Norwegian and a Welshman to the gold medal, overcoming Hermann Tomasgaard and Michael Beckett some seven months out from the Paris Olympics.
https://twitter.com/AUSOlympicTeam/status/1752558384681718117
The 28-year-old's victory on home waters followed his triumph at The Hague in the Netherlands in September last year.
"It's incredible. I was super happy to win last year and to do it again makes it feel that much more special," Wearn says.
"Obviously being in an Olympic year, as well, it means maybe a little bit more … Everyone's on form at this point and a lot of people are doing selection stuff … so you know if you can win a World Championships in an Olympic year you're definitely one of the best. That's not to say it's any easier any other year, but it certainly gives that little bit more weight to it."
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.