Sam Meech (born 4 April 1991) is a New Zealand sailor who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Meech was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, England, in 1991. The sailor Molly Meech is his younger sister; almost exactly two years his junior. When he was three and a half years old, their parents gave up their house and the family lived on a boat for the next decade; the siblings attribute their affinity to water to this period of their lives. He received his secondary education at Tauranga Boys' College, where fellow Olympic sailors Jason Saunders (born 1990) and Peter Burling (born 1991) were his contemporaries.

Sailing career

Meech finished 34th in the Laser class at the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships and won a Halberg emerging talent award in 2011. In 2013 he won the men's Laser race at the Sail for Gold competition and in 2014 he won the men's Laser competition at the

EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup The EUROSAF Champions Sailing Cup is a series of sailing regattas that started in 2013. The series features boats which feature at the Olympics and Paralympics. Seasons Winners Men's 470 Men's 49er Men's Finn Men's Laser Men's RS:X ...

. He was part of the New Zealand team that won the 2013 Youth America's Cup. Close friends Meech and Andy Maloney had an intense battle to win New Zealand's selection for the one quota spot for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Meech won a bronze medal in the

2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup The 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup was a series of sailing regattas staged during 2014–15 season. The series featured boats which feature at the Olympics and Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Pa ...

sailing regatta in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

(USA) in January, and a silver medal at a later regatta in

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered aroun ...

(France) in April; these results won him the selection over Maloney. Meech and

Josh Junior Josh Junior (born 22 December 1989) is a New Zealand Olympic and international sailor. Sailing career During the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup, Junior finished second in the men's Finn event in Weymouth. After beating out Andrew Murdoch to qualif ...

made up the last two Olympic nominees of the New Zealand sailing team in May 2016. Meech won a bronze medal in the Laser class; the first time that a New Zealand competitor has won an Olympic medal in this class. His sister, Molly Meech, also competed for New Zealand at the 2016 Olympics in the 49erFX class alongside Alex Maloney, the sister of Andy Maloney.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Meech, Sam 1991 births Living people People educated at Tauranga Boys' College Olympic sailors of New Zealand New Zealand sportsmen New Zealand male sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Laser Sportspeople from Tauranga Sportspeople from Portsmouth Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Olympic medalists in sailing Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Laser