Tokyo 2020 Olympic hopeful Anna Burnet returned to her old school this week to deliver an inspiring talk to pupils on her career so far.
The former pupil, who has also taken on the role as Sailing Ambassador for Lomond School, spoke to Lomond’s keen sailors, and those interested in what it takes to become an elite athlete, about her sailing journey.
Anna provided the pupils with tips on balancing school work with competitive sailing, finding the right boat for your body type, and finding the perfect sailing partner.
Now sailing a challenging foiling Nacra 17 multihull, she also showed pupils videos of her gliding through the water and spoke of the importance of training, discussing her regimented training schedule that has allowed her to grasp a new style of sailing.
Anna and her sailing partner John Gimson have been spending five hours on the water per day, training 300 days per year, in the lead up to their bid for the Olympics.
The pair recently claimed a silver medal in the Nacra 17 class on the first day of medal racing at the Olympic test event in Enoshima, Japan in August.
The pupils were also keen to know more about women in sport, how she got into sailing and the types of boats she has sailed in, while Anna shared her experiences of trying to find the edge that gets you to the top.
Sailing is part of the school curriculum at Lomond School as part of a focus on adventure, taught on its own fleet of dinghies and in partnership with RNCYC.
Johanna Urquhart, principal of Lomond School, said: ‘It was absolutely fantastic to have Anna back for the day, hearing first hand about her successes since leaving Lomond and what the future holds.
‘Sailing is one of our most popular activities and a lot of our pupils are working towards their own success stories within the world of sport, so they were all really excited to hear from an elite athlete about her own experiences.
‘We wish Anna all the best and will be supporting her journey along the way.’
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