Islay Watson. Image: Jen Edney/World Sailing

Teenage sailing sensations Islay Watson and Finn Hawkins have today been named among Team GB’s squad for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games.

The rising stars will represent Great Britain in the windsurfing competition at the Youth Olympics, taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 6-18 October.

The pair will be among 42 British athletes aged between 14 and 18 who will compete in 17 sports over 12 days of action.

They will both race in the Techno 293 Plus windsurfing class having impressed selectors with a string of top results this season.

Watson, 17, from Aviemore in Scotland, claimed bronze at the class European Championships as well as winning the Youth World Championships in the RS:X class, while Hawkins, 15, from St Austell in Cornwall, was third at the Techno Youth World Championships.

The 2018 Youth Olympics, which will feature almost 4,000 of the world’s most talented young athletes from 206 nations, is the third edition of the Games following Singapore 2010 and Nanjing 2014.

The Games will also make history through its commitment to gender equality by becoming the first Olympic event to host the same number of male and female athletes with 1,999 of each set to compete in Argentina.

Mahdi Choudhury, Team GB’s Chef de Mission for Buenos Aires 2018 said: “Being selected to Team GB for a Youth Olympic Games is a fantastic achievement and our 42 young athletes should be hugely proud to be heading out to Argentina next month.

The post Young windsurfers picked for Team GB’s Youth Olympics squad appeared first on All At Sea.