Mozambican Emerging Nations Programme sailor claims nations first Olympic sailing spot

World Sailing Emerging Nations Programme (ENP) athlete Deisy Nhaquile has become the first sailor from Mozambique to qualify her country to the Olympic Games.

Nhaquile qualified her nation at the African Championships in Algeria and, subject to national selection, will race at Tokyo 2020.
 
Nhaquile won the Medal Race to claim gold in Algiers. Alongside Nhaquile, Egypt’s Khouloud Mansy, another ENP athlete, qualified Egypt in the Laser Radial. In the Laser, Rodney Govinden and Aly Badawy qualified the Seychelles and Egypt respectively. Badawy became the third ENP athlete to qualify having participated in clinics in 2018 and 2019.
 
Alongside the Laser and Radial qualification events, the Men’s and Women’s African RS:X Championships were also held and Algerian athletes Amina Bericchi and Hamza Bouras took gold to qualify their nation in both events.
 
Across the last three years, Nhaquile has participated in three Emerging Nations Programme (ENP) clinics, learning and perfecting her skills under the guidance of World Sailing’s Nominated Experts.
 
Much like Nhaquile, Mansy had also participated in Emerging Nations Programme clinics in South Africa and Auckland in 2016 to prepare her for senior competition. She faced some pressure in the deciding Medal Race but her advantage was strong enough to confirm second overall.
 
Tania Elias Calles, World Sailing Remote Coach for the Senior Emerging Nations Programme, commented, “I could sense nervousness and pressure from Deisy’s mindset so we talked about it, set the goal and put that aside making sure our strategy was clear and how we would execute it.
 
“The main focus had to be the process of every single race, to keep things as simple and enjoy the ride. We had our challenges during the event but Deisy managed to peak and learn a lot from many situations. I am very proud of her and super excited her dream became true.
 
“I have to say that this couldn’t happen without team work. Deisy has been training really hard with Nigel, ENP fitness trainer. We communicated every day with information about the race and sharing information that would make our athlete excel. Deisy is very fortunate as well to have the support of Mr Da Rosa, who is her Federation’s President, not only the best team leader but a great friend and almost family.”
 
Hélio Alberto Da Rosa, President of the Mozambique Sailing Federation, added, “Sailing is a sport which most people here in Mozambique were thinking is just for rich people and also just for men. When she [Deisy] started to win in the Optimist we had more interest from a lot more schools because they saw a girl winning in a different sport.
This qualification for Tokyo 2020 will change minds in Mozambique, and also the history of sailing in Mozambique. Now the government and lot of companies can realise this is a sport they should start to sponsor. We have this a opportunity to push sailing forward.
 
“The ENP program gave us and Deisy the opportunity to realise a dream. It was a good programme which helps the countries who don’t have conditions to participate in a lot of training camps and competition because of a lack of funding. And with this programme the athlete got the opportunity to work with all good experts and coaches to help her during the preparation.”
 
Rob Holden, World Sailing Training Delivery Manager, concluded, “Deisy attended her first regional ENP clinic in South Africa in 2016 as a 15 year, off the back of winning four African Optimist Championships. Deisy’s sailing potential was clear and she has been a key participant in the ENP since.
 
“After the 2017 Youth Worlds in Sanya, Deisy progressed to the Senior program and she has since participated in a number of events across the world. This is a fantastic result for both Deisy and Mozambique and is a testament to the hard work undertaken in the country to develop sailing.”
 
The Seychelles’ Govinden sailed consistently across the 12 races to seal a convincing gold medal and a national spot at Tokyo 2020. Egypt’s Badawy was pushed hard by Manuel Lelo (ANG) and Allan Julie (SEY) in the Medal Race but hung on to second overall for silver and a Tokyo 2020 spot.
 
Results – Top Three
 
Laser Standard (Tokyo 2020 qualified MNAs – SEY and EGY):
1st Rodney Govinden (SEY)
2nd Aly Badawy (EGY)
3rd Manuel Lelo (ANG)
 
Laser RAD (Tokyo2020 qualified MNAs – MOZ and EGY):
1st Deisy Nhaquile (MOZ)
2nd Khouloud Mansy (EGY)
3rd Malia Karassane (ALG)