Solva sailing star, Micky Beckett, has his eye on Olympics

The 27-year-old Solva star channelled his energies into his sailing during the pandemic as a way to knuckle down and improve his sailing.

Micky Beckett has been sailing since the age of 10. Picture: British Sailing (Image: British Sailing)

With the 2024 Paris Olympics in mind he has already seen an impressive change in form, winning the 2021 European Championships and Trofeo Princesa Sofía this year against some of the World’s top sailors.

With the added support of a strengthened training group last winter, Beckett is in a prime position to challenge for that all important Olympic spot.

"The world paused and it was a really interesting period for me in that summer where you didn't really travel and didn't really hang out with anyone or have fun,” he said.

"I basically just spent the whole time sailing without the pressure of doing any events.

"But I think in that period I got significantly better as a result of having all that time without any events or distractions.

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"When I came back to doing events after that, I suddenly found that I was a lot better basically."

Beckett has thanked his close-knit training group of ILCA 7 sailors down at British Sailing's base who all encourage and help each other with the mental and strategic side of racing.

He added: "We didn't just train well and push each other but when we finished a training session we had a very nice honest chat about it and we would share ideas.

"The tactics and strategy of racing is best compared to a chess game probably. It's that kind of knowing your opponent and trying to second guess their next move whilst they're trying to guess your next move.”

Micky is hoping to fly th eflag for Britain as part of the British Olympic team.Picture: British Sailing (Image: Picture: British Sailing)

Micky began competing aged 10 after learning to sail on his father's hand-made boat.

Now, with the whole of Solva behind him and a foundation of continually improving results, Beckett might just be on the plane to Paris in two years’ time as part of the most successful national Olympic sailing team of all time who will proudly fly the flag for Great Britain in 2024.

"Sailing is most famous for being in the Olympics, literally since I was seven, people in my village have been asking me if and when I'm going to be in the Olympics,” he said.

"But the thing I find really interesting about it is that it's just one opportunity in four years. It’s the ultimate pressure cooker, the challenge is insane.

"I've got to genuinely be confident that I can win a medal there and there's a lot of work I still need to do but where we are in the cycle I'm happy."