Photography: courtesy of SailGP

AS ONE OF the world’s most decorated sailors, Tom Slingsby reflects on how he got here, winning Olympic gold, leadership and what motivates him as both an athlete and the CEO of Australia’s SailGP team. Here, he sits down for Esquire‘s long-running Q&A series ‘What I’ve Learned’.


I got into sailing through my dad. He was a sailor, and my older sisters were into it, so I just naturally followed.

I have tennis to thank for my professionalism. I played it from age five to 15 and it helped me realise the sort of work ethic you need if you want to be successful in sport.

Winning Olympic gold [at London 2012] was such an amazing moment for me because of the journey that I was on. Failing in 2008 and having to come back was really tough, but it made the journey so much better.

For my goals right now, I’d love to win the America’s Cup again, and in SailGP, I’m focused on creating a legacy for our team and trying to win.

When you can make your work your passion, you’re extremely fortunate. But there are times when you can be burnt out. Fortunately for me, these are very short-lived times, and I love what I do.

Success is all about the people you bring together. Team culture is something every sports team, every business and every person is searching for. You might not have a team of champions, but a champion team, and that’s when things click.

You can give a person a pat on the back, but it’s the team that makes situations happen. It’s about putting the team first over the individuals.

When I’m selecting crew or team members, it’s really a mentality thing. I look for people who are trying to improve themselves every day and have the mentality of, I’m going to be better tomorrow than I was today.

Even if we win multiple events in a row, you’ll never see me sitting there and saying, “We’re the best, no one can stop us”. We are always trying to improve.

Some people have unbelievable natural talent and the sky’s the limit for them, but they might not have the right work ethic. What you need is a blend between natural talent, professionalism and work ethic.

No matter what day it is, whether it’s racing for a $2 million final or a practice day before the season begins, we try to keep things light. When we have to be serious, we are, but in between those times it’s important just to enjoy each other’s company and have a good time.

Your priorities change over the years. I think back to myself as an Olympic sailor: I was so driven to win that nothing else mattered. If you’d asked me before any of the Olympics, ‘If we gave you a silver medal before the event has started, would you take it?’, I would have said, ‘No way. I’m not here to come second.’ Now, in my older age, I realise that sometimes people can just be better. Sometimes things can fall your competitor’s way, even if you do everything right.

Becoming a father has changed my outlook on life. You realise that there’s much more important things than winning a sailing race. I’m still extremely competitive, but the most important thing in life is family.

The best advice I’ve received came when I was the favourite for the 2008 Olympics but lost. Victor Kovalenko, the head coach of Australia’s sailing team, told me, “I know it’s hard to believe right now, but you learn a lot more from your losses than you do from your wins. This emotion that you’re feeling, this sadness that you’re feeling, is only going to fuel you into the future.” That has been true. Whenever I’ve had a tough loss, I use that feeling to fuel me so I can bounce back and do better.

Tom Slingsby is a Rolex ambassador.

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