McKeeman sails to a bronze medal in world championships (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

McKeeman sails to a bronze medal in world championships

WITH a number of medal hopefuls currently flying the flag for Great Britain in Athens in the sport of sailing, it's nice to hear about the exploits of a talented, up-and-coming local youngster who could well burst on to the Olympic scene a some years from now.

Up against a field of 50 competitors, Bowmoor Sailing Club junior Iain McKeeman was delighted to pick up a bronze medal for U15s at the Laser 4.7 world championships, held recently in Lake Garda in Northern Italy.

The overall event attracted a total of 277 14 to 18-year-olds from 26 countries.

The competition consisted of a dozen races over six days in one of the primary inland racing locations in Europe.

McKeeman, 14, was given time off from his local school - Farmor's in Fairford - to compete and they have been very supportive of his sailing activities over the past couple of years.

This was McKeeman third event outside of the UK this year. Iain started sailing at the age of eight at Bowmoor in an Optimist dinghy, which is the main junior singled-handed dinghy in most countries.

Bowmoor Sailing Club has the largest Optimist flotilla in the UK, and regularly produces GBR national squad members.

He was part of the British team at the Optimist European Championship in Croatia last year where he finished 28th out of an entry of 180.

Earlier this year and having outgrown his Optimist, he moved to the first rung of the Laser class, which is the most popular single-handed dinghy worldwide.

And Iain sails just about every weekend of the year in different locations around England, racing or training on the sea as well as inland lakes.

For the past three years, he has been part of a Royal Yacht Association-sponsored winter training schedule.