Nicholls uses words of wisdom to claim first senior sailing medal

Matilda Nicholls used words of wisdom from teammates to power her to a first senior medal at the 2024 Princess Sofia Regatta. 

The Aldeburgh native earned a bronze medal in the ILCA 6 class in Palma, soaring up the standings before finishing second in her first-ever medal race.

The 22-year-old had leant on her Olympic-bound colleagues for advice, tapping up Princess Sofia gold medallist Micky Bennett and fellow ILCA 6 sailor Hannah Snellgrove for tips.

"It feels amazing, I can't really believe it to be honest," the University of Exeter student said.

"It still hasn't settled in but it was a really tricky week racing-wise and I am super proud of myself to be able to put together such a good week in such tricky conditions.

"Hannah (Snellgrove), my teammate back at home who is going to the Olympics, messaged me first saying well done and then I replied ‘Help! What are your tips for medal racing?'

"She helped me out with a few tips, a few pointers and a few of the rules that were different. Then Micky (Beckett) with his experience was super helpful.

"It is very cool to learn from both of them."

Nicholls finished behind Hungary's Mária Érdi and Zoe Thomson of Australia and used a strong start with five top-10 finishes in the first five races keeping her in contention.

In the gold fleet, four races in difficult conditions were followed by a third-place finish in the final fleet race before second in the medal race confirmed her place on the podium.

She added: "We had a massive mix of conditions, the first day was super windy then we had some medium conditions and then light conditions.

"The last few days in gold fleet racing it was just super tight in the fleet and everyone was rounding the marks within a couple of seconds of each other.

"Every little thing that you did had a massive impact on your race outcome so it was super tight racing which was really tricky and made it even more important to be on it and minimise the mistakes.

"We had a lot of waiting on shore before the medal race because there wasn't a lot of wind and I was getting a bit nervous that we wouldn't get out there. Seeing as it was my first medal race I just kept thinking I wanted to get out there and experience it.

"I just went out there with the mindset that it was like any other training race that we normally do when we only have 10 boats on the water. I just wanted to go out there and enjoy it and do as well as I could, try and not think too much about the points until the race was over."

Nicholls will go in search of back-to-back podiums as she competes alongside Snellgrove in the Hyères Regatta.

The psychology student will then spend the summer in Marseille helping Snellgrove prepare as best she can for the Olympics, with sailing taking place on France's south coast.

"I knew this was the last competition that all the top girls were going to be doing before the Olympics," she said.

"I really wanted to iron out as many of the mistakes from the last event as I could and go out all guns blazing in every race that I could.

"Getting into the medal race was the primary aim. It was even cooler to be in the medal positions throughout the week and finish there too."

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Sportsbeat 2024