Nicola Groves (born 4 April 1989) is a British competitive sailor. She competed for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Nicola Groves
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1989-04-04) 4 April 1989 (age 35)
Height5 ft 6 in (168 cm)
Weight63 kg (139 lb) [1]
Sport
SportSailing

Early life

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Groves was born and raised in London, England.[2] When Groves was 10 or 11, her mother took Groves and her brother to a local sailing club, Island Barn Reservoir Sailing Club in West Molesey, to give the children something to do during the weekend.[3] Groves attended Exeter University where she competed in sailing.[4] She was part of Exeter's winning team at the 2009 BUCS Fleet Racing Championships.[4] She graduated in 2010 with a BSc in Human Biosciences.[3]

Career

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In 2013, Groves was paired with Penny Clark and competing for Team Great Britain in 49er FX skiff sailing event with her sights set on that event for the 2016 Summer Olympics.[5] Groves then competed with Frances Peters, still in the 49er FX.[6]

In 2014, Groves partnered with Ben Saxton, competing in Nacra 17 mixed multihull events.[3] The pairs first competition was the 2015 Miami World Cup Regatta where they placed second.[7] Groves and Saxton were 2015 European Champions in their event.[8] In December 2015 Groves and Saxton placed third at the Copa do Brazil in Rio.[8] To start the 2016 season they placed sixth at both the Sailing World Cup Miami, and the Nacra 17 World Championship.[8]

Heading into the 2016 Olympics, Groves and Saxton were ranked 6th in the world in Nacra 17 class.[8] 2016 marked the return of the multihull discipline to the Olympics and marked the first time the event was contested at the Olympics with mixed teams of women and men.[8] She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, in the mixed Nacra 17, finishing in 9th place.[9][10]

Groves retired from Olympic sailing in 2017. [11]

References

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  1. ^ "Nicola Groves". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  2. ^ "Nicola Groves | Team | The British Sailing Team | RYA". www.rya.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Marsh, David (1 April 2016). "'The highlight of my life': Surbiton sailor Nicola Groves going for gold in Rio Olympics - South West Londoner". swlondoner.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Nicola Groves keen to see previous experiences of sailing in Brazil pay off ahead of Rio Olympics". 28 March 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Team GB Sailor Nicola Groves launches The Richmond Borough Youth Team Trials at The Lensbury - Lensbury Club". www.lensburyclub.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  6. ^ "British Sailing Team concludes mid-cycle squad review". Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  7. ^ "Nacra 17 Team GBR Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves". 12 August 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  8. ^ a b c d e Brown, Luke (5 August 2016). "Ben Saxton and Nicola Groves make their Olympic debut sailing mixed multihull Nacra 17 class". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  9. ^ "Nicola Groves". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  10. ^ "Rio 2016". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Saxton & Groves to part ways".
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