MONTHLY NEWS
November 2002

Teens Win Sailing Medals at the Asian Games

The 2002 Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, which came to a close on October 14, were described by the Japanese delegation leader as "the toughest games ever." But two middle-school kids still managed to win gold and silver medals for Japan.

Fourteen-year-old Shibuki Iitsuka won the gold medal in the boys' Optimist sailing competition, while 15-year old Yoko Kiuchi captured the silver medal in the girls' contest. Interestingly, both medalists confessed that they didn't like sailing at first.

The Optimist is a small yacht designed for a single sailor. It is 2.31 meters (around 7 1/2 feet) long and 1.13 meters (around 3 3/4 feet) wide and weighs 35 kilograms (77 pounds). The "Op" is the smallest yacht approved by the International Sailing Federation for sailors under age 16. Currently about 150,000 young people around the world take to the seas on an Optimist. It's the only sports category for children in the Asian Games: The sailor with the highest score after a series of 11 races wins the gold medal.

As with bigger yachts for adults, an Op sailor must read the direction and strength of waves, the wind, and ocean currents. Once at sea, you're all alone. Adult observers make sure nobody gets hurt, but if your vessel topples over, you're responsible for turning it upright again.

"I didn't have much confidence," said Shibuki, who wasn't doing well up to the sixth race. But he soon overwhelmed his rivals by winning five straight races to clinch the gold.

"He loves competition," his mother pointed out. "He's an excellent athlete with a quick mind and a natural when it comes to riding the waves. You need both technique and intuition, and he's exceptionally balanced."

Shibuki's parents are both keen sailors. "Shibuki" means a splash of seawater in Japanese, so he was probably born to become a sailor. But yachts weren't his first love. "I loved soccer and was pretty good, too. I just couldn't give it up," he says. Then, in fifth grade, he got his first sweet taste of sailing victory. "I won a race in Florida, and that's when I started to enjoy sailing."

The same goes for silver medalist Yoko Kiuchi, whose first encounters with sailing weren't very promising. "At first I was really scared getting onto the boat. It kept capsizing and I couldn't control it," she recalls. "Then in sixth grade I started to do pretty well, which made me want to sail even faster in races."

In the girls' Optimist category, a Chinese sailor had a lock on the lead from early on in the competition. In the nail-biting battle for the silver medal, Yoko came from behind to win the last two races. "I like being first. I can't stand losing," Yoko says. "During the award ceremony, the Chinese gold medalist invited me and the bronze medalist onto the top step. I was really shocked as I had wanted to win the gold."

Although preoccupied with high-school entrance exams for now, Yoko is determined to continue sailing.

Sailors are tested not only for their mastery of natural forces but also for their mental strength, as Shibuki discovered recently. In the Japan Optimist Sailing Championships that took place in early November, he finished third. "It was all my fault. I got self-conscious about being a medalist, and tried to show off. I got carried away and became careless," he says regretfully. He vowed, though, to take first place in 2003.

Photos: (Top) Shibuki receives his medal; (second) Yoko receives her medal; (third) Shibuki practicing before the Asian Games; (bottom) Yoko cruising during the third race. (Enoshima Junior Yacht Club)