China has a huge pool of talent from which to build an America’s Cup team, but few of them understand sailing. The athleticism of the new format of the America’s Cup requires fit, strong crew, but teaching athletes a new sport is not easy.
The new format for the cup should be an opportunity to reduce the age of sailors, but over the weekend, China Team exposed the sport to Ma Jian, the famous Chinese ex-basketball player who is known for playing college basketball for the University of Utah from 1993–1995. Ma Jian has joined China Team to train to be one of the Chinese sailors on the crew of the AC72 for the America’s Cup final in San Francisco in summer 2013. It was the first sailing experience for the athlete.
Ma Jian, who is 42, had a reaction of amazement and surprise when he got off the boat, though one can’t imagine he would have thought it would be anything like playing with a ball on a court. Nevertheless he said:
“I never realized how different this would be to basketball. I thought that being a strong athlete would be enough, but now I realize that this sport is a lot more complex than basketball, as the nature elements (wind, water…) are all very unpredictable and play a big role in the strategy of sailing.
Also balance, I realize that you need a lot more balance to be a great sailor. I have a lot of work in front of me to become a top sailor. This sport requires more than discipline, it requires skills that most professional athletes do not have. I need to work so hard, but I can do it.
But I believe that there are many young adults in China who would have the skills to do this, and train and become one of the best sailors. I have a better understanding now and I want to encourage people who believe they can to join the team to train”.
More America’s Cup News
