Hi, welcome to my blog page. Here, hopefully i will be able to keep you informed of our successes as Team Oyster, but also add a more personal spin on things. I'll also be able to keep you up to date with my sailing away from the Sonar...
Watch this space!!
H x
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Hannah Stodel
- About her
- As skipper, Hannah is the backbone of Team Oyster. At 22, she is the youngest member of the team, but by no means the least sailed. Winner of the 'Young Sailor of the Year' award in 1999, Hannah has a sailing background envied by all, with results to match. Have a look at Hannah's Bio, below and take a look for yourself. Follow Hannah on her run-up to the 2008 Paralympics...
Hannah"s Bio
Hannah started sailing at the age of three in a ‘Mirror Dinghy’ at her home club in Brightlingsea, Essex. Despite being born without a lower right arm she was able to adapt different techniques to overcome her disability.
In 1995, she joined the Mirror National Squad, an initiative by the Royal Yachting Association to fast track youngsters into the Olympic classes. For Hannah, this led to many events, notably her first World Championships in Ontario, Canada at the age of 12.
By the late 1990s, Hannah was starting to turn heads. Recognised by the Yachting Journalists’ Association for winning the Ladies Mirror National Title, and for the filming of a TV advertisement to promote disabled sport, she was presented with the BT ‘Young Sailor of the Year Award’ in 1999. At the age of 13 she took part in the ‘Round the Island Race’, one of the premier events in British sailing, (source: Yachts and Yachting), with Ellen MacArthur aboard her 60ft trimaran, Foncia Kingfisher.
In 2000, Hannah was selected to trial for one of the Paralympic boats, the Sonar, and in 2001 she was selected for the British Paralympic Sailing Squad. In 2003, she took the European title and was third in the World Championships as well as being picked to compete in the Admiral’s Cup– achievements that would see her selected for the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens. There, Hannah become the first British woman to sail at such an event.
After the Paralympic Games in Athens, Hannah gained a sports scholarship to Loughborough University, where she has had to learn the new skill of juggling a full-time sailing career with a full-time degree in Sports and Exercise Science.
On the boat, Hannah is the tactician. This means she decides where to go on the racecourse, where the best wind is and plans the strategy in order for team to win the race. She has currently taken a year out from her university studies to focus fully on the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008 with one aim: to win Gold!