Sailor Freya Black on starting strong

GRASSROOTS

What was the name of your first sports club?
I originally started sailing from Bewl Valley Sailing Club

What is your first memory of getting into sailing?
I start sailing when I was eight and absolutely hated it. I would refuse to go sailing and cried on the slipway, you know, all of that I then finally get over my fear and got back into the boat, started loving it from there.

Would you categorise that as a little hurdle obstacle in your journey? How did you get over that?
My dad probably wouldn’t want me to tell the story, but he actually came over and started taking photos of my boat. So I asked him why he was taking photos in my boat and he said he was going to sell it because I wasn’t going sailing. As soon as he said that I was straight in and wasn’t going to let him do that because secretly I did love it. I was just a bit scared at the start, so it just took that little nudge from dad.

Looking back on your start in the sport and obviously success, what advice or what would you say to someone who’s thinking about doing the same?
I mean my advice would be, you know, always enjoy the sport. It is such an epic and cool sport being out in the water, sailing around the course.

I would say always work hard from a young age and set your sights set on a higher goal. But never forget the love of sailing.

When you were younger, did you have any role models that you particularly looked up to?
I definitely looked up to Hannah Mills and also obviously Ben Ainslie. I mean, they were the two top sailors at the time, I was lucky enough to actually be able to learn from Hannah in the 470 class for a couple of months. It definitely inspired me further.

It’s just really cool to be around those kind of people in a team and to experience being with people that have achieved the medals.”

HEROES

In terms of beyond just sailing, what other sportspeople would you say you admire?
There is no one in particular. I just love watching the Netflix documentaries on different sports and, you know, different approaches to psychology in different sports. I just love all of that and learning about that.

TRAINING & MOTIVATION

What does your average day look like?
We’re training most days a week, but obviously savings quite a technical and equipment based sport. A lot of the days are also built up on technical side and getting our boat ready. So kind of depends on the week. But yeah, training at least four days a week with added boat work and gym sessions on top of that. 

Do you have any specific tools that you can use to keep you motivated in terms of mental resilience when it does get hard?
I think rest is always important. You’ve got to have a balance between your social life and rest and it’s really cool that we all live in Portland and, you know, have great friends around us and all the sailing community is so friendly and great fun. So maintaining a social life as well as rest really. 

With nutrition, have you got any specific foods that you enjoy? 
I love pasta. So yeah, probably pasta is my go-to. Nutrition is a big part of it. In sailing, I use my head maybe a little bit more than my body. So I get away with eating pretty much anything but a good balance of carbs and protein in.   

Is there any recovery training like ice baths or anything else you do?
When we were in Marseille in the summer, it is such a hot, hot climate so ice baths, after sailing is a gain and definitely helps recovery, especially on the legs and also working with the help of physios. 

Sailing is a very technical sport. Is there a skill that stands out as being really tricky to master?
I mean the starting of the race is probably the biggest, biggest thing. You can never underestimate how powerful starting is. So yeah, if I had to choose other ways to work on that

FUN STUFF

Any sports you are not good at?
I am quite a sporty person, but I haven’t tried padel tennis yet, so I definitely want to see where my skills lie in that.

How do you unwind away from sport?
Spending time with my friends and my family. I love watching rubbish TV as well. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills is a go to.  

ACHIEVEMENTS

Are there any achievement you’re particularly proud of?
During my youth I had some great results, I became the 29 ladies European champion, and also won a silver medal at the 2019 European Champions Championship. 

I loved youth sailing and worked my way up to the top of the fleet and eventually made the move into the British Sailing Team.