Hannah Mills

Hobbies

Windsurfing, mountain biking, climbing, spending time with friends and shopping. (rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Occupation

Athlete

Education

Mechanical Engineering - Bristol University

Club name

Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy [WPNSA], Great Britain

Coach

Joe Glanfield, Steve Lovegrove (bymnews.com, 17 Jan 2012; rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Position and style

Helm (rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
She began sailing in a Mirror dinghy at the age of eight in Cornwall with her brothers Richard and Nick. She then started sailing regularly at the Llanishen Sailing Centre in Cardiff. (plasmenai.co.uk, 29 Sep 2011; rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Reason for taking up this sport
She was on a family holiday to Cornwall and wanted to do whatever her older brothers did, they did a sailing course, so she went too. (rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Ambitions
To win a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. (rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning gold with Peggy Webster at the 2006 420 World Championships in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain. "Peggy and I are absolutely ecstatic," she said. "This is exactly the result that we wanted. The conditions were tough for us but I can't believe that we are world champions – it feels great!" (yachtsandyachting.com, 08 Aug 2006; rya.org.uk, 420sailing.org, 20 Feb 2012)

Hero
Great Britain's Olympic sailing champions Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, and England's Rugby World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson. (bbc.co.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Most influential person in career
Her first sailing coach Alan Williams and Great Britain's 470 Olympic sailing medallist Joe Glanfield. (rya.org.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Superstitions / Rituals
The night before a race she likes to relax and have people around. She also uses high energy music to help psych her up before she races. She also won't have the colour green on her boat. (bbc.co.uk, 20 Feb 2012)



Sporting philosophy / motto
"You've got to be able to take the bad events with the good ones. You've got to learn to deal with them, and learn to take as much as you can from them. As long as you've done your best, that's all you can do." (bbc.co.uk, 20 Feb 2012)

Awards
In 2002 she was named UK Young Sailor of the Year, and also BBC Wales Young Sports Personality of the Year. (olympics30.com, 20 Feb 2012)

She got into the Welsh Optimist class squad when she was just 10 and the full Wales national squad by the age of 12. In 2002, at the age of 14, she became the first girl to win the Optimist class at the National Championships and a year later became the first ever British sailor to win the Optimist Girls World Championship. (yachtsandyachting.com, 10 Apr 2006; bbc.co.uk, volvocarssailing.co.uk, olympics30.com, 20 Feb 2012)

General
SURPRISE ADMISSION
Ahead of the 2011 World Championships in Perth, Australia she admitted that she was not only scared of the sharks that could be found along the Western Australian coastline, but the water itself. "As weird as its sounds for a professional sailor," she said. "I'm scared of the water and I hate the sea. I'd be all right if it was clear and I could see what was underneath. But it's the not knowing what's there that freaks me out." (walesonline.co.uk, 02 Dec 2011)

TOP DOGG
Days after she was confirmed in the Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympic Games, American rapper Snoop Dogg posted a congratulatory message to her on his Twitter site. The rapper also posted a video message on You Tube, wearing a Cardiff City football shirt, in which he complemented her on achieving selection for the Olympic Games. She was amused and bemused in equal measure by the attention. "It was really nice but bizarre," she said. "It was quite random really. I got a text off a friend saying Snoop Dogg has just given me a shout out on Twitter. I texted them back saying, ‘don't be ridiculous'. But, we searched and finally found it." (walesonline.co.uk, 02 Dec 2011)