Birrell chases third World Championship gold medal (From Warrington Guardian)

Birrell chases third World Championship gold medal

11:45am Thursday 16th June 2011 in Video News

PARALYMPIC sailor Niki Birrell chases a third World Championships gold medal in Weymouth next month.

The former Lymm High School pupil heads to the south coast in form after sealing Skud18 class silver with partner Alexandra Rickham at the Skandia Sail for Gold regatta last weekend.

Australian rivals Daniel Fitzgibbon and Lield Tesch pipped them to gold.

“They will be the ones to beat in Weymouth,” said Birrrell.

“We always like to win if we can but it was still good to get a medal [last week].

“It’s the biggest fleet we have sailed in though, so there are plenty of positives.”

The 24-year-old has taken gold with Rickham at the world championships in each of the past two years.

That means that either Fitzgibbon’s fine form – or Birrell’s rampant run at the World Championships – has got to give, and the Brit is determined to win.

Birrell and Rickham fared well in Weymouth last week, achieving six consecutive top two finishes, but the Australians still sealed gold.

Investment specialist Skandia is the principal sponsor of the British sailing team.

Visit skandiateamgbr.com.