Sam Sills

Last updated

Sam Sills
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1993-04-15) 15 April 1993 (age 31)
Launceston, Cornwall, United Kingdom
Sport
Sport Sailing

Sam Sills (born 15 April 1993) is a British sailor. He competed in the IQFoil event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, where he reached the semi-finals. [1]

Contents

Early life

Sills grew up in Launceston in Cornwall, and learnt to sail on beaches and lakes in South West England. [2] He attended Tavistock College. [3]

He has younger identical twin sisters, Imogen and Saskia, who are also professional windsurfers. [4]

Career

Sills won the Male U15 Techno 293 World Championship in 2007, and the Male U17 World Championship in the same competition in 2009. [5] He left the British sailing setup after becoming dissatisfied with his situation, and moved to Scandinavia, sailing part-time whilst working in the naval architecture sector. [6]

He returned to competitive sailing in 2020, after it was announced that IQFoil would feature in the 2024 Summer Olympics. [7] Having lived in a van for a year in order to afford sailing equipment, he finished seventh in the World Championships that year, and went on to be the leading British rider in the European Championships. [2] He went on to finish fifth at the 2023 World Championships in Lake Garda. [8]

Sills took part in the Men's IQFoil event at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He qualified from the preliminary race in eighth position, [8] and finished as runner-up in the quarter-final, [9] however failed to advance through the semi-final. [10]

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References

  1. "SILLS Sam". Paris 2024 Olympics . Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Sam Sills: How Team GB windsurfer slept in van to try to qualify for Paris Olympics". BBC Sport. 2 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  3. Kendall, Aaron (10 March 2016). "Sam Sills sets sail towards Olympic shores". Tavistock Times Gazette. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  4. "Saskia Sills". www.bournemouth.ac.uk. Bournemouth University. July 2019. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  5. "Champions". Techno293. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  6. Bloom, Ben (21 July 2024). "From living in a van to Olympics contender: GB windsurfer Sam Sills". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  7. "Sam Sills: Windsurfer targets Olympics medal after return to sport in new class". BBC Sport. 31 May 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  8. 1 2 "Sam Sills excited for the windsurfing medal races after qualifying eighth". Eurosport. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  9. "Men's Windsurfing Quarterfinal - Sailing - Paris 2024 Olympics". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  10. "Men's Windsurfing Semifinal - Sailing - Paris 2024 Olympics". Paris 2024 Olympics. Retrieved 3 August 2024.