Meet BVI Olympic Sailor Thad Lettsome
Young, personable, and passionate about sailing, 22-year-old Thad Lettsome has qualified to represent the BVI in sailing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. It is an accomplishment that has excited the BVI community – both sailors and non-sailors alike. He will be joining 400-meter hurdler, Kyron McMaster, as a confirmed BVI athlete participating in this year’s Games.
It is a journey that Thad embarked on while still in primary school, and over the years, he has honed his skills through dedication, hard work and long hours on the water.
I spoke to Thad the week before his graduation from Tulane University in New Orleans, and asked him: “how did he catch the sailing bug?”
The reply was simple: “My friends were all sailing.”
The Nanny Cay Sailing program is an incubator for young BVI sailors, and Thad was eager to join his peers as they learned the rudiments of the sport. “I went down to Nanny Cay and thought it was a fun time. I really enjoyed it,” he said.
The Royal BVI Yacht Club Youth Sailing program at Nanny Cay is open to children six years and older, no matter their sailing abilities. The kids learn on Optimists, a small single-handed craft primarily used by youngsters up to the age of 15. Thad, a natural on the water, was taken under the wing of coaches, Richard Wooldridge and Chris Haycraft, both veteran BVI sailors and competitive racers, and whom Thad credits with kindling his enthusiasm for the sport and imparting the skills he would need.
Thad’s first race, he recounts, was the Dinghy Championships. “It gave me a taste for competition. I enjoyed beating people,” he admitted. He went on to test his skills in regional competitions in St Thomas, St. Croix and Puerto Rico.
His academic education continued in both the BVI at The Cedar International School which he attended until 8th grade and at the Tabor Academy in the UK for his middle school and secondary school years. For university he chose Tulane in Louisiana, which has a competitive varsity sailing team that travels to regattas throughout the region.
Although the Tulane sailing team raced on two-man boats, Thad continued to compete on his own on the single manned Lasers with his eye on qualifying for the Olympics. It was a full schedule of academic work, daily sailing practice and racing on the weekends.
Although he enjoys competition, sailing is also a grounding experience for Thad. “I love being on the water,” he said. “I get on a boat, and push off the dock on my own, and leave everything behind.”
In 2019 Thad represented the British Virgin Islands in the Men’s Laser event at the Pan American Games in Peru. He was the first sailor to represent the Territory in the sailing event at the Pan American Games since the 1990s.
His participation in the Pan American Games continued in 2021 at the event’s Junior Games in Cali, Colombia in 2021. In an impressive showing, Lettsome finished in 6th place overall and second in the U-21 (under 21). In 2023, he once again represented the BVI at the Pan Am games, this time in Santiago, Chile. The Pan Am Games are the region’s largest multidisciplinary international sporting event with top athletes from throughout the Americas participating. Competing in difficult conditions, his finish wasn’t as strong as he would have liked, but it nonetheless spurred him on to continue his Olympics quest.
Other events followed, and in April, contending in the Last Chance Regatta in Hyerés, France, Lettsome placed 31 out of 61 sailors. The accomplishment made him one of three sailors eligible for the two available spots for a Universality Place, a category that gives athletes from smaller, less represented nations the opportunity to compete in the famed Olympic Games.
Following the Olympic invitation, BVIOC President Ephraim Penn, stated, “This is an historic occasion for the Virgin Islands, the Royal BVI Yacht Club and for the BVI Olympic Committee.” He commended the many people who have supported Thad in his quest. Among them, Richard Wooldridge, Chris Watters and Royal BVI Yacht Club Administrator Tamsin Rand.
Thad said his parents Clyde and Lisa Lettsome were always a positive influence on his sailing. “They always encouraged me to do my best,” he explained.
The Olympics for Thad is the culmination of a long sought after goal, achieved through hard work and constant competition. Noting that he is about to embark on one of sports’ most prestigious events, Thad stated concisely, “I am really excited to represent the BVI against 43 countries in the most popular boat in the world.”
Once the Olympics wraps up, and with Law School on the horizon, Thad said it is too soon to predict, how much time he will have for sailing. But he assures his many supporters that he will continue to sail. “One hundred percent,” he declared.
The Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11th. Thad Lettsome will leave for France as a BVI Olympic sailor on July 18th and the sailing competition will be held from August 1st to the 5th. People from the Virgin Islands, and around the world, will be watching as Thad and other BVI’s Olympic athletes take their place among the nations of the world this summer.
https://bviolympic.org
