Australian sailing bosses have warned selection for next month's final Olympic test event at Qingdao in China is not a shoe-in for the 2008 Beijing Games.
Australian sailing bosses have warned selection for next month's final Olympic test event at Qingdao in China is not a shoe-in for the 2008 Beijing Games.
Eighteen Australian Sailing Team (AST) and Sailing Development Squad (ASDS) members head to the Qingdao International Regatta and training camp next week hoping to hammer home their case for inclusion in the national Olympic squad.
The test event team includes three reigning world champions - 470 men's pair Nathan Wilmot and Malcolm Page and Laser world No.1 Tom Slingsby - plus world No.1 Tornado pair Darren Bundock and Glenn Ashby.
Former Laser Radial world champion and current national champion Krystal Weir and Athens Olympians Nicky Bethwaite, Karyn Gojnich and Angela Farrell in the Yngling class are also competing.
Team bosses said selection for the test event was challenging because each class has only one spot and so many sailors were currently in good form.
"We have selected this team on current form and on the premise of selecting the best representatives for this specific event," team director Michael Jones said.
"However, this test event is not necessarily a precursor for nomination to the Australian Olympic team.
"Like any regatta, the performance for the team at the test event and all the individual AST and ASDS athletes at both the pre-event camp and the regatta proper, will be taken into account and analysed by both management and the nomination panel deliberations."
A nomination panel headed by 1983 America's Cup-winning skipper and former Olympic bronze medallist John Bertrand will select the sailing squad for Beijing in October.
AAP