Australian 18-year-old sailor Evie Haseldine had dreamed of competing in the Olympics since she first took up the sport. In 2018, Evie participated in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires at the age of 14. But Now her dream finally come true as she has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the Summer.
Sailors Price and Evie Haseldine unique partnership set up a push for Paris
Evie Haseldine and Olivia Price are sailors. They started sailing together recently, only 18 months ago. In this short time, they surprised everyone by winning a bronze medal at last year’s World Championships held in the Netherlands. Their bronze medal win also allowed them to qualify for a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Evie is now 20 years old, and her goal is the 2024 Paris Olympics. She formed a team with the 31-year-old Olivia Price. Together, they are working very hard to try and win a better medal than bronze at the Paris Olympics. They want to win gold or silver, which would be better than the bronze they won recently.
“We’re pretty happy to come away with a podium finish here at the World Championships.”
said Haseldine.
Evie Haseldine Early Life
Evie was born in the year 2004 in Westmead, Australia. She has been around sailing boats for most of her life with her dad at Drummoyne Sailing Club. Olivia Price’s dad and Evie’s dad sailed the small 16-foot skiffs together at that club, so Olivia has known Evie since the day Evie was born.
Off the water, away from sailing, Evie is a university student. She is studying for a bachelor’s degree in media and communications at Sydney University. She is also a member of the advisory group for athletes at the New South Wales Institute of Sport.
Initial Phase of Evie Haseldine’s Career
When she was 7 years old, she began sailing small boats called Sabots at Drummoyne Sailing Club. One day, when Evie was a young girl, the Olympic sailor Olivia Price came to Drummoyne Sailing Club. Olivia showed the junior sailors her silver medal from the 2012 London Olympic Games. Seeing Olivia’s medal made young Evie dream of going to the Olympics herself.
Evie, now 21 years old, has known Olivia her whole life. This is because their fathers used to sail 16-foot skiffs together at Drummoyne Sailing Club.
“I started sailing Sabots at age 7 at Drummoyne. My Dad loves sailing, so he shared that love with me.”
Evie said
In 2018, when Evie was 14 years old, she sailed in 5 big international competitions. These included the World Sailing Youth Championships and the Nacra 15 Open World Championships. At the Open Worlds event, Evie came second place in the Under 16s group. Overall in the world rankings, she was number 16.
That same year 2018, Evie decided to spend most of her time and energy on sailing. This came after a huge win in January where she and her teammate Will Cooley won an Australian championship together.
When Evie was 15 years old in 2019, she sailed in the 29er class at the Australian Youth Nationals competition. She came second place in the girl’s division and third place overall. Evie also became the first youth sailor at the Oceania National Sailing League Championships. After that, she went back to sailing the Nacra 15 boat, coming second at both the NSW Youth Championships and Sail Sydney regattas.
Covid and Road to the Paris
During the COVID-19 sickness pandemic time, Evie said Olivia Price gave her the dream of going to the Olympics. This happened on the day Olivia came to Drummoyne Sailing Club and showed the young sailors her silver medal from the 2012 London Olympic Games. During the pandemic, Evie realized Olivia could be the mentor to help her get to the Paris Olympics.
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Evie was looking for someone to guide and teach her. So she asked Olivia for help, and they went sailing together. While out on the water that day, something just felt right between them. By the end of their sail, they were both dreaming about going to the Paris Olympics together.
Eyeing the Olympic Gold medal
In 2020, when Evie was 16 years old, she was chosen as one of only four Australian women under 21 to compete in the SailGP Inspire program.
That same year 2020, when Evie was finishing her last year of high school studies (called the HSC year), she kept racing sailboats at a very high level. She was again picked as one of four Australian women under 21 to sail in the SailGP Waszp Inspire Program. Evie also skippered (drove) a Nacra 15 sailboat to get second place at the NSW State Championships.
In 2022, Evie completed her first full sailing season in Europe with the Australian Sailing Team. She raced in 3 World Cup events, plus a European Championship and a World Championship in the 49erFX Women’s Olympic Skiff Class of boats.
In August 2023, Evie and her sailing partner Olivia Price competed together at the World Championships in The Netherlands. The pair won a bronze medal, which secured Australia a spot to send a boat to the 49erFX event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This bronze was Australia’s best-ever result in the 49erFX class.
Currently, Evie is coached by Victor Paaya, who is the National Sailing coach for Australia.
Evie and Olivia, whose bronze medal was Australia’s highest finish ever in 49erFX, are continuing to improve the special communication skills between them that clicked from their very first sail together.
