 Dawson (left) and sailing partner Micah Wilkinson | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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| Born | 24 July 1994 Auckland, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country | New Zealand | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Sailing | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Erica Dawson (born 24 July 1994) is a New Zealand sailor. [1] She competed in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, as crew for Micah Wilkinson in the Nacra 17 class. [2] She competed in the Nacra 17 event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal with Wilkinson. [3] [4]
Born in Auckland, Dawson started sailing in her youth. [2] She started sailing in Murrays Bay Sailing Club. [5] She became the first girl to win the national championship in the Starling class. [2] Dawson competed in the 2012 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championships together with Ellie Copeland, finishing fifth in the girls' 420 event. [6]
Dawson continued her sailing career in the 49er FX class, with her first 49er FX competition being the 2014 49er & 49er FX European Championships in Helsinki where she placed 28th together with Copeland. [2] [7] [8]
In 2019, Dawson switched to Nacra 17, first as helmsman but then switched roles with crew Micah Wilkinson. [2] [9] They finished 7th in the 2020 Nacra 17 World Championship in Melbourne. In March 2020, the duo was selected for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Nacra 17 event. [10] The sailing duo, coached by Jo Aleh, practised with Australian duo Jason Waterhouse and Lisa Darmanin for the event. [11] In June 2021, during the preparations for the Olympics, Dawson broke her fibula while practising. [12] [13] In the 2020 Olympics, they finished 12th in their Nacra 17 event. [2]
In 2021, Dawson and Liv Mackay were selected for the New Zealand SailGP Team team in the SailGP series. [14] [12] Dawson sailed as a strategist for New Zealand SailGP Team. [7]
During 2022, Wilkinson and Dawson continued to sail in the Nacra 17 and finished second in the Nacra 17 European Championship in Aarhus. [15] [16] [17] The duo was coached by former Tornado sailor Antón Paz. [15] In the following Nacra 17 World Championship in Halifax, they finished 9th. [18]
