Olympics-Sailing-Mozambique sailor charts new waters for Africa

By Alexander Smith

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) - Deizy Nhaquile was nine when she first stepped into a dinghy in Mozambique, but she and her mother were fearful about the safety of the sport and decided she should stop.

"My dad said 'no', I have to do sailing because it can change my life. Maybe I can go to school and I can change my life, because we are not rich," she said.

"He said: 'you go to sailing or you go out of my house'," she told Reuters.

Nhaquile, who turns 24 this week, decided to keep on sailing and her talent on the water in the children's Optimist class was soon recognised by her club in Mozambique's capital Maputo.

She is now set to compete in the women's single-handed dinghy event at her second Olympic Games, after ensuring her berth through World Sailing's Emerging Nations Programme.

She became the first athlete from Mozambique to qualify her country for sailing at the Games when she raced in Tokyo, since when she has also completed a degree in sports management.

Nhaquile said her dream is to win, but that securing the necessary funding is a constant battle.

"I have to work hard, and we need sponsors to win."

Much of her success, she says, is thanks to her South African coach Rob Holden, whose belief in her talent and unwavering backing has been a driving force, along with her parents and her sailing club.

"To get a medal in the Olympic Games, you have to go spend a lot of money, go to a lot of championships, so it's really expensive," Nhaquile said, adding that she has sometimes not had money to pay Holden and he has paid for some of her expenses.

But when she is sailing, some of those concerns evaporate.

"It's like a different connection, like you and the water, its really amazing, you forget all your problems," she said when asked what it feels like to sail her ILCA 6 dinghy.

As one of only a few Black athletes competing in sailing in the 2024 Games, Nhaquile wants others to follow in her wake.

By competing in Marseille she says she will be representing not only Mozambique, "but Africa and all Black women".

"We can come to the Olympic Games, just believe in ... (yourself) and work hard'," she said.

(Reporting by Alexander Smith; Editing by Ken Ferris)