By Neto Baptiste
A second place finish in the Copa Brazil De Vela 2022 or the Brazil Sailing Cup, has placed national kite-surfer, Tiger Tyson, into the overall 14th position in the world as he continues to push for qualification into the 2024 Olympic.
Competing in the open class of the men’s division, Tyson finished just behind of Brazil’s Bruno Lobo who won the event. Switzerland’s Gian Andrea Stragiotti claimed the bronze medal finish.
Tyson was elated with his performance, adding that it prepared him for a much bigger event from November 7-13 also in Brazil.
“Second place, I am really happy about that because Brazilians are known for being great sailors so that was great. It was a small event, but it was still nice to get that done after having such an intense season in Europe. Now, we’re in the north of Brazil and preparing for the Pan American Championships, which are going to be a big event for me to see where I place within our continent,” he said.
The athlete said he is also looking forward to representing the twin-island state at the CAC Beach Games slated for November 19-26 in Santa Marta, Colombia.
“After this event in Brazil, the Pan American Championships, I have the Caribbean and Central American Beach Games and this is a Pan American qualifier so it’s also a big event and I will be going there with the Antigua NOC along with some other Antiguan athletes so I am excited about that and the aim for that event is the gold medal so we’ll see how it goes,” he said.
Tyson is hoping that good performances in the upcoming events could move him into the top10 by the end of 2022.
“I still have a few more events, so hopefully I could climb to the top 10 but we’ll see. If I have a good result here in Brazil for the Pan American Championships, then I should be able to climb up a few more places so that’s the aim,” he said.
“I had a really long season in Europe with the European and World Championships but it didn’t go the way I would have liked. I had quite a lot of issues with not finishing some races due to equipment breaking, crashing with other people and it was kind of a messy event for me, but next year is the one that counts for the Olympic qualifier so hopefully I could turn things around by then,” Tyson added.
The athlete is set to return to Antigua following the CAC Beach Games in November.
