| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 8 July 2001 [1] Southampton , Hampshire, England [2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sailing career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class(es) | 420, 470 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Royal Lymington Yacht Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Vita Heathcote OLY (born 8 July 2001) is a British sailor who won a gold medal at the 2019 420 World Championships in the women's category and silver at the 2024 470 World Championships in the mixed section. She represented Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Having begun sailing aged just five, [2] Heathcote, whose uncle is from two-time Olympic silver medal-winning sailor Nick Rogers, [2] [3] won multiple accolades at age-group levels and joined the British Sailing Team in 2019. [2]
She claimed the women's gold medal at the 2019 420 World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, alongside Milly Boyle. [4] [5]
At the same venue, she won bronze with Ryan Orr in the mixed category at the 2021 470 European Championship. [6] [7]
Heathcote formed a new mixed 470 partnership with two-time Olympian Chris Grube for the 2023 Sailing World Championships in The Hague, Netherlands, where they finished 13th, narrowly missing out on qualification for the 2024 Summer Olympics. [1] [3]
However, in March 2024, the duo took silver at the 470 World Championships in Mallorca, Spain, which, when combined with another British boat coming ninth, was enough to secure a last-minute qualifying quota place for the Games in Paris. [3] [8] [9]
Later that month Team GB officially confirmed the pairing's selection making Heathcote the youngest member of the 2024 British Olympic Sailing team. [10] [11] [12]
In May 2024, Heathcote and Grube came 16th at the 2024 470 European Championship held at the Yacht Club de Cannes in France. [13] [14]
At the Olympics, Heathcote and Grube finished 11th, missing out on the final day medal race by one place having ended one point off the top ten. [15] [16]
Ihor Matviienko is a Ukrainian sailor and Olympic Champion. He won a gold medal in the 470 class at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, together with Yevhen Braslavets. He also competed at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics. Also, Matviienko is the World and European Champion in 2001. He is a President of the Sailing Federation of the Dnipro, President of 470 class association of Ukraine and Founder of sailing school and club MIR yacht club in Dnipro, Ukraine.
Chris Draper is a British sailor who has won multiple World and European championships and a bronze medal at the Sailing at the 2004 Olympic competing in the mixed 49er. He has been a winner of the Extreme Sailing Series and was helmsman for Luna Rossa, Italy's America's cup challenger 2011 to 2015. In the 34th Americas cup he became the first Britain to helm in the Louis Vuitton cup final. For the ACWS & 35th America's Cup between 2015 and the Cup event in Bermuda in June 2017 he held the position of Sailing Team Manager / Tactician and Wing trimmer for Softbank Team Japan. In 2019 he became CEO and Wing trimmer for the Great Britain team racing in the newly formed SailGP, racing the F50 hydro foiling catamarans in a global racing circuit. In 2021 he joined the Japanese SailGP team as a Wing Trimmer. winning multiple events during the 2021/2022 SailGP season and finishing runners up overall.
Hannah Louise Mills, is a British competitive sailor and two-time world champion in the Women's 470 class, having won in 2012 and 2019. Mills won a silver medal for Team GB with her crew Saskia Clark in the 2012 Olympics, she followed this up with a gold in the same event at both the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and, partnered by Eilidh McIntyre, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. Mills is currently the on-board Strategist for the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, competing at events around the world. In 2022, Mills and Sir Ben Ainslie launched Athena Pathway, a programme to help fast-track development for female and youth sailors. Athena Pathway has a team competing in the first ever Women’s America’s Cup, helmed by Mills, and has also put together the British Youth Team that will battle to retain the Youth America’s Cup after winning it at the last event in Bermuda in 2017.
Joanna Ayela Aleh is a New Zealand sailor. She is a national champion, a former world champion, and an Olympic gold medallist.
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Gil Cohen is an Israeli Olympic sports sailor. She competed in sailing in the Women's 470 with Vered Buskila in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and in the same event with Nina Amir in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Eran Sela is an Israeli Olympic sailor, sailing in the 470 discipline. His current partner is Gideon Kliger.
Christian Grube is a British sailor who competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Dan Froyliche is an Israeli Olympic sailor. He sails with Eyal Levin.
Saskia Tidey is a sailor who has represented both Ireland and Great Britain in international sailing regattas.
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Shimshon Brokman is an Israeli former Olympic sailor. Brokman and Eitan Friedlander won the 1972 420 International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) Youth Sailing World Championship in West Germany, the gold medals in the 1979 470 European Championships in Spain and the 1980 420 World Championship in France, and a bronze medal in 1983 at the 470 World Championships.
Eitan Friedlander is an Israeli former Olympic sailor. Friedlander and Shimshon Brokman won the 1972 420 International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) Youth Sailing World Championship in West Germany, the gold medals in the 1979 470 European Championships in Spain and the 1980 420 World Championship in France, and a bronze medal in 1983 at the 470 World Championships.
Emma Wilson is a British windsurfer who won a bronze medal in the RS:X event at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. She won the RS:X events at the Youth Sailing World Championships in 2016 and 2017, and won medals at the 2018 and 2019 RS:X European Championships, and the 2022 and 2023 IQFoil European Championships. She won her second Olympic bronze medal in the iQFoil at the 2024 Paris Games.
Eilidh Jane McIntyre is a British former sailor, who won the gold medal alongside Hannah Mills in the 470 event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She won the 2019 470 World Championships, and came second at the 2017 470 World Championships. She finished third at the 2015 470 European Championships, and second at the 2019 and 2021 events, as well as having won multiple Sailing World Cup medals. In 2022, McIntyre was awarded an MBE for services to yachting.
Freya Black is a British sailor who won a bronze medal at the 2024 49erFX European Championship. She represented Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Hannah Snellgrove is a British sailor who has represented her country at multiple world championships and the 2024 Summer Olympics in the ILCA 6 class.
Michael "Micky" Beckett is a British sailor who won a gold medal at the 2021 ILCA European Championships and silver at the 2023 Sailing World Championships. He represented Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Eleanor Aldridge is a British sailor from Dorset who competes in women's kite foiling. She won the 2023 Formula Kite European Championships and took the silver that year in the World Championships. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Aldridge won a gold medal in the women's Formula Kite event.
Rosa Donner is an Austrian 470 dinghy sailor. Her sailing partner was Sebastian Slivon until she changed to Niklas Haberl. She is coached by Florian Reichstädter.
