Tokyo Games Athlete Pedro Pascual to Race at RS:X Euros – Racing Started Tuesday
Event News & Coverage
Event Preview –
Nov. 20, 2020
2020 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team RS:X athlete Pedro Pascual (Miami, Fla.) arrived in Vilamoura, Portugal late Wednesday night in anticipation of the RS:X European Championships on November 24-28. Racing begins on Tuesday.
Pascual’s last time racing was in February at the 2020 RS:X World Championships in Australia, where he placed 34th out of 70 competitors. He is excited to get back out on the racecourse, put his last few months of training to work, and gauge how the fleet has evolved after months of derailed plans due to the pandemic.
Following the World Championships, Pascual returned to his family in Spain where he was on lock down for two months. During this time he was able to conduct his solo training. Thankfully, he had the pleasure of training with his coach for the past five years, Jaime Andres, who will also be in attendance this week in Portugal. Last month, the Spanish Olympic team convened in Spain for group training and welcomed Pascual to the fleet for practice. This also helped Pascual prepare for this week’s regatta.
Competitors are looking forward to a great week of racing in Portugal, as the conditions historically compare nicely to a typical summer in Tokyo. Pascual assumes that it’s one of the attractive qualities of the event that drew a crowd for this week as the fleet will be using the regatta as a stepping stone in their preparations for Tokyo.
This event was confirmed in August as the European content’s Qualifying Event to the Tokyo Olympic Games. While Pascual has already secured his spot at the Games, his time this week in Vilamoura will be essential in his path to Tokyo.
*Preview by Allison Chenard