Sailors Look To Better Performance

Team Fiji Sailors Sophia Morgan and Nelle Leenders are confident they will be able to better their performance at this year’s Pacific Games in the Solomon Islands.

20-year-old Morgan and 18-year-old Leenders were born and raised in Lami, Suva Fiji and learnt from an early age how to sail, however, it wasn’t always a first-choice sport for Nelle Leenders.

“I didn’t really like sailing to begin with, but I kept at it for some reason and now I am in love with the sport. It is challenging to learn but once you get it, it is a great sport,” Leenders added.

Leenders first learned how to sail at the age of eight at the National Sailing Centre in Laucala Bay and later started to sail competitively at her first Pacific Games in Samoa when she was just 13 years old.

The young lass from Lami says through she travels around the world to compete in sailing regatta she loves being able to represent Fiji when she can in the sport that she loves.

For Morgan on the other hand learnt how to sail at the Royal Suva Yacht Club and grew fond of the sport as it was also a hobby for her father.

“My dad really got me into the sport, I love how it is a sport that has really pushed me outside of my comfort zone and now I love to sail and even more represent my home country,” Morgan added.

For Morgan representing Fiji means the world, as she shared it was because of her family, especially her Bubu, her family friends and the fact that Fiji is her home that makes donning the blue and white colours a little more for her.

She added that sailing is also a sport that helps build an individual’s confidence and independence. “It is a lot of fun and can be strenuous at times, but it definitely builds character,” Morgan said.

Though the sailing pair have been training separately for the past year, the two are now getting in some time to train together before leaving for Honirara tomorrow (16 November 2023).

Morgan and Leenders were 14 years old and 13 years old respectively when they bagged silver for Fiji in their sailing events in Samoa at the last Pacific Games.

They are hopeful they will be able to do better this year and also use the Pacific Games as a training before taking part in another regatta to qualify Fiji to the Olympic Games in Paris in the sport of Sailing.