Royal Lymington Yacht Club’s Vita Heathcote to make Olympic Games debut in Paris alongside Team GB veteran Chris Grube
ROYAL Lymington Yacht Club’s Vita Heathcote will compete for Team GB in the mixed dinghy class with Chris Grube at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The British Olympic Association announcement means Heathcote will be the youngest sailor in the Team GB line-up, aged just 22.
Meanwhile, boatmate Grube (39), will make his third appearance for Team GB, having competed at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 with Luke Patience.
The pair only joined forces eight months ago. But last month, they scooped a silver medal at the 470 class World Championship in Palma, Mallorca, securing a quota place for Team GB and earning themselves athlete selection.
Heathcote, whose family runs Warborne Farm in Lymington, is a rising star of the British Sailing Team after joining in 2020 at the age of 18.
She is a previous world champion in the 420 class, the youth version of the 470, and has since scooped a European bronze medal and the recent World Championship silver.
The Olympic legacy also runs strong in Heathcote’s family – her uncle is three-time Olympic sailor Nick Rogers, who won silver medals in the 470 class at Athens and Beijing.
“It gives me goosebumps knowing that I’m going to be a part of the biggest sporting spectacle on earth,” said Heathcote.
“The Olympics has always been the goal and the thing I project my inspiration and motivation towards, so selection is a box ticked on the way there.
“I feel like now I can really sink my teeth into that event and the progress up to it – it is a very freeing and unique sensation.”
Heathcote will have big shoes to fill, picking up the mantle from Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Hannah Mills and Eilidh McIntyre.
Team GB has a rich history in the class, which, until now, has been split into men’s and women’s fleets.
Since the class was introduced to the Olympics in 1988, Team GB has won four silver medals in the men’s fleet and two golds, as well as a silver in the women’s.
The change to a mixed fleet, brought in for Paris 2024, opened the door for Grube to make a comeback to the class he’s competed in for two decades.
“In the run-up to the 2023 world championships, Vita needed a crew, and I was available,” said Chester’s Grube, who has been sailing professionally since Tokyo 2020.
“Vita and I have worked tirelessly over the last six months. It’s a late campaign, but coming second at the world championships last month showed our capability.
“It means a huge amount to go to the Olympics for a third time. I’ve had 20 years in this boat, and it’s always been my dream to win an Olympic medal.”
Team GB chef de mission, Mark England, said: “Following their fantastic silver at the recent world championships, I am delighted to welcome Vita Heathcote and Chris Grube to Team GB for Paris 2024.
“It is great to have Chris back in an Olympic boat for his third games, and I am sure his Olympic experience will make for a strong pairing alongside Vita, who is making her Olympic debut this summer.”
RYA Performance Director and Team GB sailing team leader Mark Robinson added: “In Vita and Chris, we have a proven winner at the international youth level and an experienced Olympian, who after less than a year together, have proven through their recent results that they are capable of continuing Team GB’s sailing legacy.”
