Williams eyes up Rio

Cook Islands Olympian Helema Williams could feel proud as she joined the spectators crowding on the grassy grandstand which is known as the Nothe in Weymouth for the medal decider in her event, the singlehanded Laser Radial.

She also plans to be at the sprint canoeing event next Friday to support another Cook Islander, Joshua Utanga, before taking part in the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games and then flying home.

Having trained and trained, and then carrying the team flag at the opening ceremony, ”everything has gone really quickly,“ she said.

”I really enjoyed it and it was a great experience but not all the races. Obviously, in some of the races I was hoping to do better, and the conditions were not great for me a lot of the time. There was a lot of breeze some of the time and it could be cold.“

But, said sailing manager Anne Tierney, it had been a really valuable experience not just for Helema, who, at 20, was the fourth youngest of the 380 sailors taking part in the regatta but for the future of sailing in the Cook Islands.

”What we need more than anything is variety,“ she said of a programme to develop the sport which includes help from the sport’s world governing body, the International Sailing Federation. The islands have already benefitted from ISAF’s Connect to Sailing programme.

For Helema, the immediate future will build in some time to wind down from what has been an intensive programme of training and racing. ”I won’t start training again straight away. I’ll take a little time off.“ Helema would also like to make a contribution to the development of sailing and work with some of the clubs.

”But I think I would like to keep on racing the Laser and, if I were able to go to the next Olympics in Rio in 2016, then I want to be a lot more competitive,“ she said.

”The Laser is a good boat for us because it is one design and we can use the same hulls for different sizes of masts and sails,“ said Anne Tierney, who added that, although the windsurfer is due to be dropped for the next games, there was already a lot of interest in the kitesurfing which will replace it.

Most of all, Helema is looking forward to being home. And the best memory will be about taking part in that spectacular opening ceremony.