Andrew Lewis retires from sailing, takes Canada coaching job

THREE-TIME TT Olympic laser-class sailor Andrew Lewis has retired from competitive sailing.

Lewis, 33, announced the end of his prolific sailing career, which spanned over two decades, via social media on Wednesday. Lewis also revealed he has been appointed International Laser Class Association (ILCA) 7 Canadian national men’s team coach. He has not signed a contract with Sail Canada – the sport’s governing body there – but said the parties came to a “long-term agreement.”

His unexpected retirement, partnered with his new appointment, was an “evolution of events” that started with the birth of his daughter before the Tokyo Games.

Lewis and his wife opted to go to Canada to have the baby so that he could train alongside the Canadian national team to prepare for the Olympics and also support her through pregnancy.

At training, he shared his athletic knowledge and competitive experience with Sail Canada’s High Performance director Mike Milner.

“I said to myself that I would not be closed to one day working with a nation like Canada, and leading them. That was my expression after that conversation (with Milner), not thinking that this is where I’d be right now,” Lewis said.

After the games, he headed back to Canada to reunite with his wife and newborn baby to return to Trinidad. He had more discussions with Sail Canada and thought long and hard about his future.

After three Olympic appearances, his first child and a unique coaching opportunity, Lewis decided to call it quits on his athletic career.

“It was a good time for me to make this step in a new direction, which I saw (as) very fruitful, not only for myself and Canada, but for the future of sailing in TT.

“They gave me the opportunity to go and work with them last year November for a three-month trial. They needed to see if they like me as a coach and if I liked them as an association and their athletes, and if we worked well together.

“I didn’t even complete the three months before we made a decision that I was a perfect fit.”

Lewis will be mostly based in Trinidad, but will use top-flight technology to stay abreast of his athletes’ daily progress. For competition and major training camps, particularly in winter, he will travel with the team to their destinations.

“I am fortunate that they are allowing me to be based here in TT. Canadians all go to warmer climates during the winter period to train, so we were based in Florida for most of the winter, and then in Mexico for the last training block.

“We go south to train, and when we have time off, I return to Trinidad, and that’s how it’s going to continue, moving forward. I will meet them where I need to. I will have to spend some time in Canada. There’s a lot of travelling, but I would be able to come back home often.”

Lewis is in charge of four Canadian laser-class sailors. He is coaching two-time Canadian Olympian Tom Ramshaw, as well as the ILCA 7 athletes from Sail Canada Development Squad. Ramshaw, who represented Canada at the 2016 Games in Brazil, as well as at Tokyo 2020 in the finn class, switched to ILCA 7 last year, as Tokyo was the last time finn was held at the Games.

On his appointment, which was confirmed on Wednesday, Sail Canada welcomed the Caribbean sailor to their team.

Milner said, “Andrew Lewis has focused on becoming a world-class coach and bringing its teams to the peak level by using his existing technical skills and combining with his vision of a complete athlete. We are looking forward to Andrew moving the team to another level.”

Lewis reflected, “I have given 15 years of my life to my Olympic career, and sailing, in return, has given me back everything I have in my life today.

“Now it’s time to take all I have learnt and create champions on and off the water. This opportunity with Sail Canada has me fired up, on another level, and I am excited to see what we can create together.”

Lewis competed in three Olympic Games in laser class. He first took the 37th spot in 2012 in London. In his preparation for the 2016 Games, he had a life-threatening accident in Rio de Janeiro in December 2015, before he came back in time to compete at the Olympic Games, where he finished 39th. Finally, last summer at Tokyo 2020, he closed his Olympic career with a 29th position.

He concluded “I’m super-grateful for my career, from not qualifying in 2008 (Olympics), to going to London and not making the finals, almost dying before Rio, coming out of that and then qualifying for Tokyo, hoping for an Olympic medal and not achieving it – showed me that it’s plenty more (needed).

“Now Canada has opened this door to me, my daughter, my wife and my amazing team.”