I Feel Blessed — Fillah Karim

I feel blessed. I don’t know how else I can put it. The opportunity that I have been given is not something that I could have ever expected. It’s funny how life goes; sometimes, from the lowest lows come the greatest opportunities. In January, after I split ways with my previous coach, I was lost. It felt like nothing was going my way, and that everything was falling apart. I was not ready to give up; I knew that much, but, it felt that achieving my sailing goals was going to be all but impossible.

As I was dealing with all of this, I got a call from my friend Giovanni who is one of the top laser sailors (currently ranked # 1 in the world) saying that he is putting together a small training group to work together towards the 2020 Olympics, and that he had a spot for me on the team if I wanted it. Of course, I wanted it, and I was on my way out to Slovenia to begin training with the group at the earliest opportunity. Our coach would be Vasilij Zbogar, who is one of the most accomplished single-handed sailors; having won three medals over 5 Olympics. It sounded too good to be true.

It’s been almost a month since I arrived, and things are going great. Vasilij has a really good ability to see the big picture and help with all of the aspects of training and performing. Being able to put my trust in him to make all the decisions allows me to focus all of my energy just on the training. Having the opportunity to train with top sailors who are always pushing, on the water, and in the gym is also a huge component of what makes it so good. The standard that they set is top level, and naturally, that brings my level up as well.

Since we began working together, we have done two regattas: the Europa Cup in Hyères (France), and the Spring Cup, here in Izola (Slovenia). I always knew that there would be a period with some confusion in my sailing as a result of changing coaches and therefore sailing philosophies. That is reflected in two very mediocre results at these two regattas. That being said, I think we are mostly through that period, and things will continue to get better and better. We have already seen some huge improvements to some of my weakest areas and I am really excited for what is to come!

Thanks for reading!

Fillah

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