The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH a pat on the back and some valuable instructions from legendary sailor Sir Durward ‘Sea Wolf’ Knowles, Paul de Souza said he’s all geared up to compete in the Second Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China, August 16-28.

The 15-year-old ninth grader at St Andrew’s School will be representing the Bahamas in the sailing competition to be held in the Nanjing Jinnlu Lake Sailing Venue August 18-23. He earned the right after a fourth place finish at the Byte CII North American and Caribbean Continental Qualification Championships in Stuart, Florida, in February.

“I’m pretty proud of myself for doing it,” said de Souza about his historic milestone, thanks to his intense daily training at the Nassau Yacht Club. “It took a lot of hard work, considering that I could have been playing video games. Instead, I spent a lot of time training at the Nassau Yacht Club.”

At the qualifying tournament, de Souza went up against some of the best young sailors in the Caribbean and both Central and North America. He was among the four boys and four girls who have booked their ticket to the long trip to China where they will compete in a field of 30 boats.

During a press conference on Thursday where de Souza was formally introduced to Knowles by Robert Dunkley, de Souza said he was thrilled to have met Knowles and would like nothing better than to use the meeting as a motivation for him as he attempts to finish in the top half of the field at the Junior Olympics.

“It’s more of a pleasure than an expectation, even though realistically, I would be very happy if I can get a medal,” he said.

At that point, Knowles interjected and told de Souza that he needs to go to the Jr Olympics with a lot more enthusiasm of earning a medal.

“In anything in life, which has always been my motto, you have to be confident that you will win,” Knowles said. “Once you do that, if you fall short, you won’t feel that bad. But at least, you aim high and you just hope that you go out there. If you don’t win, you won’t feel so bad because you know that you would have tried your best.”

Knowles, the 96-year-old Olympic Star Class gold medallist with crew member Cecil Cooke in 1964 in Tokyo, Japan, and 1956 bronze medallist with Sloane Farrington in Melbourne, Australia, said he was delighted to be able to meet de Souza and offer some words of commendation to the rising young star.

“Out of necessity, I thought the public should know more about this young man,” Knowles said. “I think it’s a great story for me to be able to show him what I had to go through and what he had to go through to get to this level. My process was a little more difficult mainly because in those days, the eliminations were not so strict. Therefore, I won my elimination series races.

“But the thought came to me to show the public just how far the junior programme has grown. This junior programme is the greatest thing that has ever happened in the Bahamas because through the Yacht Club, the doors have been opened to allow the boys and girls to be able to come in and compete in the sailing events.”

Knowles said he’s been thrilled to see so many children of all races mixing together, being afforded the opportunity to be in a position as de Souza to qualify to compete in international competitions like the Jr Olympics.

“When I heard about it, he had already qualified. Robert told me that he was going to the Junior Olympics,” Knowles said. “I was very pleased. It was a great story and I wanted to show the public that we could do anything if we put our minds to it. I just hope that the public will assist him with their financial donations so that he doesn’t have any problems in getting to China.”

Knowles also took the time out to praise Dunkley and Jimmy Lowe for the tremendous strides that they have made in assisting the juniors in the programme that got started 10 years ago in 2005. Knowles said he’s not sure what kind of success the local sailors would have achieved if both Dunkley and Lowe were not involved.

As he prepares for the competition, the 137-pound 5-foot, 9-inch de Souza said he has to train a lot more in the boat and think better on the water. Dunkley said they will continue to spend at least five days a week in training.

“His start is very important. That is something that we have been working on,” Dunkley said. “If he can work on that, I think he will benefit tremendously. He has a lot of speed, so it’s important for him to get off the starting line and round the marker in good position.”

de Souza’s accomplishment is one of the major successes coming out of the programme. Chris Sands, in 2009-2010, had another remarkable performance when he represented the Bahamas at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Championships Mid Fleet before he enrolled at the University of Charleston.

Another sailor, according to Dunkley, to watch out for in the future is Spencer Cartwright. “Both of these young sailors have been performing very well and I see a lot of potential in them if they can stay on track and hopefully represent the Bahamas, not in the next Olympics, but the one after that,” he said. “I think it’s something that they both have in mind and they have been working towards. We are just here to help them achieve their goals.”

Ironically, the 2020 Olympic Games is scheduled for Tokyo.

“I want the public to know that this is no Star Class, which I sailed in,” Knowles said. “This young man is in an unique class, but I have all the confidence in the world with the junior programme that he’s involved in with Robert and Jimmy that he will be successful.”

de Souza attempted to qualify for a major international championship at the Worlds. But after falling short, he went to a practice regatta called the Boomerang Regatta in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he was third. He continued to train and participated in the North American Championships.

After being introduced to sailing by one of his cousins, who gave him an “old Optic”, de Souza said his dad, Dr Pablo de Souza, encouraged him to continue to pursue the sport along with his sister, Meagan, to attend a summer camp in 2010 and like they say, the rest was history.

“I just had a natural talent for it and I got pretty good,” de Souza said. “With some coaching from one of the top sailors at the time, Christopher Sands, I won the Optic National in the Green Fleet, which was the beginner class for competitors who have only been sailing for a year.”

de Souza is the son of Kathryn and Pablo de Souza, both medical doctors. He has two sisters, Meagan and Samantha.