Making Olympian strides

I started sailing nine years ago because a friend encouraged me to give it a go and I hope that in five years time it will take me to the Olympic Games when they are held in Britain.

The 2012 games are my main target, the event will be held at Weymouth where I have already sailed a lot of times.

Nine years ago a friend wondered if I wanted to try sailing. I said 'yes' so we went to the club in Mumbles and it started from there.

For the first three years I was just having a bit of fun and then I started racing. I did a couple of club races, enjoyed them and went on to different boats as I got older.

Back at the starting line

You have to get three stages of different level qualifications and then two racing badges, red and white racing.

A couple of us from Mumbles went for the regional finals in Llangors and I won it. I was ten-years-old and really enjoyed that, it gave me a taste for winning.

I have given up lots of other sports to get more serious about my sailing, for instance I used to enter a lot of surfing competitions but I found they were a long way to travel and you could get knocked out in the first round and that would be it.

Getting away from it all with Toppers

With sailing you can experience the whole weekend and you have the freedom of getting away from it all and doing things your own way.

My first experience of Toppers was when I was 14. I entered the Eric Twiname championship in Rutland, it was a really windy weekend and I won it. That was my most enjoyable event yet.

I sail pretty much every weekend for five hours a day. In the summer I try to get out as often as I can in the evenings but I am also still studying at Gorseinon College taking exams in Maths, Physics, Accountancy and Psychology.

I do a lot of fitness training because I am in the British and Welsh youth squads. We get a fitness programme to follow and we have two fitness tests a year.

Being fit really helps your sailing, I have been physically sick in the past because I was so tired and it is mentally tiring as well.

I have just moved into the Laser Standard boat which is one of the Olympics classes. I want to get into the National Youth Squad after August when the nationals are held.

After that I am aiming for the Olympic Development squad and then the British team - that is my long-term ambition.

Also this season I want to qualify for the Youth Worlds in the Radial class. They are held in Holland in August and I should have done enough to be in the British team for that.

Sailing gives me freedom. If I could sum it up in one sentence it would be, "You lose all your worries when you get out on the water, you move into a different world."

Now I am in the Welsh and National squads I get the kit and stuff provided, but we still have to pay travel and accommodation which adds up when it is most weekends.

A boat is about £3,500 second-hand, but you can sell it when you have finished. Now I have a boat funded by the Welsh squad.