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THREE-TIME Trinidad and Tobago Olympic sailor Andrew Lewis gets his first major test as head coach of the Canadian men’s laser class team at the opening leg of World Sailing’s Hempel World Cup Series in Mallorca, Spain on Monday.
Lewis, 33, leads a contingent of six sailors – Tom Ramshaw, Fillah Karim, Ryan Anderson, Forrest Wachholz, James Juhaasz and Ben Flower – at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia regatta; the 51st edition of the largest Europe-based event for Olympic sailing classes.
This event is also the first key test of 2022 for nations in the build-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Three weeks ago, Lewis, announced the end of his prolific sailing career for TT, via social media. The ex-national sailor also revealed he was appointed International Laser Class Association (ILCA) 7 Canadian national men’s team coach.
Lewis anticipates a competitive field but believes the World Cup opener serves as a welcomed test.
“This is my first major event as a coach for Canada. The best of the world is here (Spain) and it’s the first time they’re gathering together since the Olympics last year. I’m very excited to see how my group of six Canadian athletes which whom I’m working with, have prepared.
“This will be the true test as to my preparations as a coach as I’ve only been in the job since November 2021. But it will give me a good indicator of how we’re looking. We’re ready, so it’s time to execute,” said Lewis.
Prior to his final Olympic performance as an athlete in Tokyo last year, Lewis trained with Sail Canada – the nation’s sailing governing body – and also held with talks with them on joining the team.
In November, Sail Canada gave him the opportunity to work with their athletes for a three-month trial. He continued on and was officially appointed head coach on March 17.
Lewis said, as a former athlete, he was always in the capacity of “being served” by coaches, nutritionists and teammates for best practice and performance. He wants to now share all the information and knowledge he’s learnt over the years with aspiring sailors.
“Now I’ve flipped the role completely, from being served, to now serving. And I feel that I have so much to give because of the amount of experience I have.
“It hasn’t been hard for me, but very exciting and fluid. I can see what makes the boat goes fast, what doesn’t, tactics and all the things that I know, I’m just sharing the information. It’s genuine to me.
“I’ve studied this for a minimum of 15 years and now it’s just sharing and giving back to the next generation of high-performance athletes.
“It’s very cool to be on the other side (as coach) because it makes you feel like all the hard work is paying off because you can now share it in an easier form, as compared to thinking it through and not having the answers,” he added.
After his debut World Cup performance as Canadian men’s coach on Monday, Lewis and his team continue their Paris 2024 qualification campaign at another World Cup leg in France, three weeks later.
From there, the ex-TT sailor leads the Canadian men’s team at the 2022 ILCA 7 Men’s World Championship in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, from May 21 to 28.
Commenting on the welcome return to large international regattas, Ferran Muniesa, technical director of the Trofeo Princesa Sofía, told Sail World, “We are delighted that the Trofeo Princesa Sofía regatta will return in 2022 - our first regatta since 2019 thanks to the pandemic.
“Our primary concern has always been the safety of the sailors and with the easing of restrictions we are hopeful that the regatta will be at full strength and once again an excellent display of sailing in a beautiful setting.”
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