Jersey teenage sailor Bertille Bacquet dreams of Olympic debut through Team GB talent programme
ITV Channel went to meet a rising star of sailing in Jersey.
A Jersey teenager has her sights set on qualifying for the 2028 Olympics after securing a place on a Team GB talent programme.
Bertille Bacquet, 17, who is originally from France, was awarded the Jersey Clipper £1,000 Bursary earlier this year which helped pay for upgrades to her equipment and she says it would be a dream come true to compete at the next Games in Los Angeles.
The Jersey College for Girls student and former international rower is now on Team GB Sailing's 'Crew4Gold' scheme, a competitive initiative aimed at developing young talent for the future.
Bertille says she started sailing on a lake in France as a 10-year-old but now does a lot of her training on her two-person 49er boat, named 'Missile', in Jersey.
Speaking about why she loves the sport, Bertille explains: "I love the speed, I've always been interested in watersports and being out on the water is just lovely.
"Competing in the Olympics would mean everything to me. I've always watched it, it's always been a big dream for me and I really, really hope I can make it to that."
Bertille's coach Dan Washington, who is the Commodore of St Catherine's Sailing Club, says he wants to do everything he can to help her become an Olympian.
Talking about the Crew4Gold programme, Dan says: "It's very, very competitive so it's not that they've chosen five or six, there's a lot of them doing it.
"It's going to be a lot of hard work but with a bit of luck and a lot of determination, maybe she'll get there."
"We've got a lot of good sailors on the island but to see someone reach that pinnacle would be absolutely amazing."
The 2024 Games in Paris were successful for the Channel Islands with Sark's Carl Hester winning bronze in the Team Dressage, Guernsey athlete Alastair Chalmers making the 400m Hurdles Semi-Finals and Guernsey's Heather Watson reaching the Mixed Doubles Quarter-Finals.
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