Rolex presents: Tom Slingsby – Staying on Course

Tom Slingsby has become a force in world sailing thanks to his exceptional skill and strategic brilliance. His ability to ‘see’ the wind like few others has powered him to the highest of highs – Olympic gold medallist, 10-time world champion and multiple winner of the Rolex SailGP Championship title as driver of Australia’s team. Despite all this success, he has struggled to find happiness. As part of an exclusive documentary series featuring members of the Rolex family, he reveals how he has adapted his mindset to compete at the elite level while “Staying on Course”. Discover more https://on.rolex.com/4i3oftO
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[SOFT MUSIC] Sailing is a really humbling sport. One day, you can
predict everything. Let’s go. And then on a different day… Oh! Disaster for Australia,
the wing’s fallen down! Massive incident there. So you’ve really got
to enjoy the good moments because you don’t know
how long they’re going to last. [SEAGULLS CAWING] Good morning, everybody. Twelve national teams
will go head to head competing in this weekend’s event. Without further ado then, it’s time to hear
from three-time SailGP champion, CEO and co-owner of the recently
acquired BONDS Flying Roos. Tom Slingsby is here. [CLAPPING] Tom, any advice
for competitors this weekend? No, I’m not going to give
anyone advice up here. A – they don’t need it.
And B – why would I? We’re going to have
four qualifying races today. There’ll be three more tomorrow. The top three boats
go to the event final, where we find the winner. [AIR HORN] [INTENSE MUSIC] Here we go, Slingsby’s going
to swing it down here. All about acceleration. When you’re hitting the high speeds,
it is scary, for sure. Rolling down, rolling down. The foil is going
through the water so fast, it starts to boil
the water around the foil. At 85 km an hour, you start to feel a shudder
through the rudders. Up around 100 km an hour, you’ve got so much turbulence,
it’s hard to grip the wheel. And the Roos
are going to lead at mark 1. The characteristics
of a successful driver in SailGP… Tacking over here, guys. …it’s a real intuition, and it’s quick thinking
and decision-making skills. We’ll be fast mode here,
windward heel. You have to think
multiple moves ahead. Watch the Spanish. Slingsby will be aggressive here, he’s going to try and push
the Spanish off. Every successful athlete
has that… In Australia, we call it
a honey badger, where you just fight
your way out of the situation. I definitely have that. Trying to force the Spanish
off course. – Look at this!
– Coming down hard. Slingsby, when he needs to pull
a rabbit from a hat, he’s done it. The fans can get on their feet, the winning moment goes
the way of the BONDS Flying Roos and their driver
Thomas David Slingsby. [MUSIC FADES] I absolutely love SailGP. And the Australian team has been
successful against the very best. Australia is the 2019 champion. Australia claims the title of 2022. [MUFFLED APPLAUSE AND CHEERING] The three-peat is now complete. The first three seasons,
we managed to get the win, had Australia on top of the podium. But after that,
the results weren’t great. – Hold on, Tash.
– Holding. Australia is going to capsize! – Australia’s capsizing!
– It’s Australia. Oh my word! [TENSE MUSIC] It really hurt losing season four. You have a bit
of an identity crisis. Am I not that good a sailor? Is Australia not the best
sailing nation in the world? When things aren’t going well,
the pressure starts to mount. I’ve just got to use
that pressure as motivation to dig our way out of that hole. [SOFT PIANO MUSIC] I’ve always been
extremely competitive. I was a tennis player
when I was really young. I had coaches, I had sponsors, and I had a lot of outside pressure.
But it just all came too early. I started falling
out of love with tennis. And I just switched to sailing. My dad was a sailor, he definitely taught me a lot about how sailing really works. What I loved about it was I actually had
no pressure as a sailor, I did it
because I loved it. I had a good
work ethic from tennis. I’d be getting up at 5 am,
hitting the water at 6 am, and when school would finish,
I would hit the water again. One day, I was sailing
with my dad and said, “Okay, the wind’s going to go
10 degrees left here in 5 seconds and then it’s going to go
20 degrees right in 30 seconds.” And my dad looked at me
and said, “How do you know that? No one can actually see
what you see.” I think that was when
I realized I had a gift for it. I remember saying to myself
I want to be the first Australian to win an Olympic gold medal
in the Laser class. As a 15-year-old, I wrote a list
of how I would do it. It started with winning my local
club championship that year, it had winning
the coast championships, it had winning a state championship, national championship. And it was amazing
to tick it all off. After that, I won
a few more national titles. But even though
I was successful, I wasn’t enjoying it
for a long time. [SOMBRE MUSIC] I was very one-track-minded and I didn’t really
celebrate my victories too often, whether I would win
another national championship or whatever it was. I’d tick that off, and the next day, I was training
for the next thing on my list. And I had
some mental health struggles. I kept thinking,
“Well, if I win the world title in a month,
everything will fix itself.” But I won a world title, and I realized
I was still not really happy. And then, for the 2008 Olympics, I went in
as the favourite and I choked. I finished 22nd. I thought about
giving the sport away. I actually haven’t told
anyone until recently about my issues
that I had those years. I never want
to feel like that again. [MUSIC FADES] Slowly but surely,
I built myself back up and said, “I need to get back
on the horse.” Then I realized that,
if I continue on in this sport, I need to shift my mindset
and really refocus for a new Olympic campaign with the focus of enjoying
the process along the way. [UPLIFTING MUSIC] I had to force it for a while there
to enjoy the moments, because it doesn’t come naturally. But by 2012, I was able
to turn that around and win an Olympic gold medal. [CROWD CLAPPING AND CHANTING] Let’s compare us
to New Zealand. Is there anything
we’re doing differently? It is really tough
to strike the right balance between, I guess,
success and enjoying the journey. But I was able
to readjust my mindset and change my outlook on life. And I’m still very motivated. [SOFT UPLIFTING MUSIC] So I did a couple
of America’s Cups. And then the opportunity came
to lead the Australian SailGP team. And in this role, I just think
I have so much trust and friendship with all my teammates,
I feel like I can be myself, and I’m very grateful I was able
to make that mental shift. [TENSE MUSIC] Here we go! [AIR HORN] The Swiss fans
are going to go wild because they’ll be in a good place
at mark 1 once again. This is your moment, Tom. That Australian boat
has got to overtake a lot of boats and hope for mistakes
for the Kiwis or the Swiss if they hope
to make the final. Now I try to embrace
the pressure. This is the race,
Switzerland – Australia. Let’s go here. This is why you do sport. He’s coming in fast,
BONDS Flying Roos are on a charge. Going for it.
Going for a cross. Slingsby looking
for speed there, here we go. – This’ll be tight.
– Watch the Swiss. – Oh Seb, that’s a big…!
– Oh my goodness! That was so,
so tight by the Swiss there. The BONDS Flying Roos
try to pick up more speed. Push it a bit more there. Whatever happens,
I’m out there racing F50s, representing my country. There’s Tom Slingsby,
hand on the wheel, trying to work some more magic. This is a big moment in the race,
he’s still behind the Swiss. I’ll do everything I can
to make sure I win. Going up here, going up here. But it doesn’t always go your way. Swiss are going to be
nicely ahead here. Tom Slingsby did everything
he could possibly do, but they’re going to
come up short, fifth. Sorry, guys. [SOMBRE MUSIC] [UPLIFTING MUSIC] Even if we have a bad race, I almost come off
the water now and just, no matter what the result is, just try to put
my life in perspective. Especially now, I’ve got a wife
and a young family. I’ve got a few years
of competing with my son coming
to watch these events. I’m fortunate, I do the best sport
in the world in my eyes, you’re representing your country. You’ve got your best mates
with you on the boat. You’re standing
on top of the podium as part of the best team. Tom “the Gunslinger” Slingsby. Three-time Rolex
World Sailor of the Year. It’s all positive things. Where else in the world
would I rather be? [MUSIC FADES]