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Interviews
Stars of the School
Will Creaven and Matthew Whitfield of
Year 9 are British International sailors.
English A level students interviewed
them and had lots of questions to ask
about their amazing sporting careers to
date.
Will, tell us about the sailing competitions
that you’re involved in at the
moment.
I have been selected for the GB Sailing
team and will be going to the European
Championships in Portugal later this
summer. It’s a regatta that will host 40+
international teams in a sailing races
around a specially designed course. I’m
a solo sailor and the class of boat I sail is
called the Optimist.
What are your hopes for the future?
I want to move into international camp
with the Lasers, which is the next stage. I
just want to keep making progress and to
carrying on being involved in the GB
squad.
What is the most exciting thing that
has happened to you in your sailing
career?
The best thing was when I went to Japan—it
was so cool. We were in Tokyo
for a week and did sailing and sightseeing.
The bullet train was amazing and the
sushi was strange but tasted quite nice
really.
Matthew, how did you first get into
sailing as a sport?
I started sailing when I was 9 at
Penarth Yacht Club. I started sailing
because my parents are sailors.
What competitions have you taken
part in?
At the end of my first year of sailing I
qualified for the Welsh National squad.
The next year I qualified for the Great
Britain National Squad and was one of
only two ten year olds to ever qualify
and the other is also from Cardiff and is
expected to win a gold medal at the
Olympics in London in 2012. The year
after that, I qualified for the French
championships and was the 2nd
ranked Brit at the event. Last year, I
qualified for the World Championships
as one of the top five in the UK and I
also won the UK Inlands and the End
of Seasons races. This year I qualified
for the World Championships again by
winning the selections. I also won the
squad championships.
What are your aims for the future?
My aims for the year are to win the RS
Feva World Championships and be the
top Brit in the Optimist class.
Our school was also very proud that
Emma Davies, Year 8, won a national
competition to design the Olympic mascot.
Emma, what was your experience of
winning the competition like?
When I went up to London for the first
time, we went to an Art Gallery overlooking
the new Olympic Stadium. I
had to present my design to four
judges, one of whom was Jonathan Edwards,
former triple jump Gold medal-
“Gyrfaoedd chwaraeon arbennig”