Olympic ambitions fuel sisters dream

If commitment means an Olympic medal then the Berry sisters, Emma and Sarah, are sure things to achieve their major ambition.
The two St Matthew's Collegiate students who combined to win the Sports Personality of the Year and Team of the Year trophies at the 2007 Wairarapa secondary schools sports awards function this week drive to Auckland most Friday nights to advance their sailing careers.
And on the odd occasion when Auckland isn't the last port of call they are invariably heading to either Napier or Wellington for training purposes.
It's not that their heavy travelling schedule is a matter of choice for Emma, 16, and Sarah, 15 but rather a case of Wairarapa offering neither the facilities or the competition for them to stay closer to home.
"We did try Henley Lake out but it just wasn't big enough for what we wanted, and the conditions there aren't really suitable either," Emma Berry said yesterday
The list of successes for the Berrys over the past 12 months makes hugely impressive reading.
Included among them are first placings in the under-16 and under-19 divisions of the world 420 class championships in Auckland, an event where they grabbed the headlines by also finishing fourth in the open women's division.
The world youth championships in Canada in July saw them place ninth in the double handed girls 29er class and they were 12th in the open 29er class at the North America championships in San Francisco. In New Zealand they won the girls double handed 420 class at the national youth championships and were first in the youth grade and 12 th overall at the national 470 championships
Boxing Day this year will see the Berrys leave for Melbourne in Australia where they will contest a series of premier regattas, including the Australian 29er national championships, the 29er world championships, the Sail Melbourne 470 competition and the 470 world championships.
The 470 class is relatively new to the sisters and they are extremely keen to do well there as it is in that class that they hope to one day achieve their goal of an Olympic medal.
"Competing at the Olympics is the dream, that's what keeps us going," Emma Berry said. " The thought of winning a medal there drives you on, we know we won't get that far without a lot of hard work."
And how easy is it for sisters to compete alongside each other on such a long term basis ? Emma says she and Sarah have had their "differences" at times but they were now at the stage where the realisation that each needed the other to compete successfully was well understood by both parties.
"I guess we still have the odd grumble as sisters do but nothing too bad," she said. "We know we have to put up with each other, we get along fine."