Meet our Olympians

May 13, 2021

Finn: Tom Ramshaw

Tom started sailing lessons when he was eight years old at the Stony Lake Yacht Club, near his family’s “broken down” (his words) cottage. He began in the SLYC junior sailing program as a way to meet new friends around the lake. He was sailing Laser 2 and 29er and began competing in off-lake regatta’s when he was 12. By age 14, Tom began sailing a Laser Radial and realized single-handed sailing was where he fit best. In 2007, Tom won the Ontario High School Championship and the Ontario Gold Cup circuit, which awarded him a new laser hull.

At the end of 2010, Tom left Queen’s University to move down to La Cruz, Mexico to sail with the International Sailing Academy, where he spent the winter training and working in a sail loft. In 2012, Tom qualified for the Canadian Sailing Team.

Tom switched to the Finn class during the summer of 2015, having quick success with two top 10 international results within the year. Tom qualified for the Rio and competed in his first Olympic Games in 2016 finishing 21st.

Tom achieved a career highlight at the 2018 World Sailing Championships when he finished fifth in the Finn to earn an Olympic berth for Canada at Tokyo 2020. He secured that spot for himself with consistent performances at the Finn Gold Cup in December 2019 where he finished eighth. He has just wrapped up participation in the Finn Gold Cup in Portugal, finishing ________ in a fleet of 52.

His hope was to do well at the Gold Cup, and then be on the Podium in Tokyo. “That’s the plan,” says Tom.