LA Olympics 2028: Sailing battle for Nacra spot, Rhiannan Brown, Brin Liddell, Ruben, Rita Booth

It’s still more than three years away but the battle for one spot in the Australian team at the LA Olympic Games in 2026 has already got spicy.

Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown at the Nacra Europeans Picture: Salvatore Lopez.

The moment youngsters Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown returned to shore after unexpectedly sailing at their first Olympic Games earlier this year they vowed they would return.

The pair were part of a futures program in the sport before being thrust into the Australian team as the foiling Nacra 17 crews after the surprise withdrawal from the Olympic race of two senior sailors.

Liddell, 22, from Belmont, and Brown, 21, from the NSW central coast ended up finishing 13th in the Olympic regatta in Marseilles on debut.

Their goal is to be mixing it for a medal at the LA Olympics where sailing will be raced at Long Beach.

This week they returnd to international waters to compete at the European Nacra championships.

Nacra fleet at the Europeans Picture: Salvatore Lopez.

“It was great to get back into the boat, find our footing and see what we want to achieve in this next quad,’’ Brown said from Italy.

“Brin and I are planning to do another four years and strive for that gold medal in LA.”

But there’s another Australian crew with the same LA Olympic goal as the Paris Olympians in Ruben and Rita Booth.

Ruben and Rita Both at the Nacra Europeans Picture: Salvatore Lopez.

While Liddell and Brown won bronze in the junior category at the European championships in Palermo, Sicily, with their eighth overall, the older Booths finished fifth overall in a strong display cut short by the weather.

“We entered the final day just one point off the podium and four points from first place,’’ Ruben Booth said.

“Unfortunately weather conditions stopped further fleet races on the last day leaving us in fifth overall.

Brin Liddell and Rhiannan Brown at the Nacra Europeans Picture: Salvatore Lopez.

“We learned valuable lessons and gained great race practice.’’

“This was the first event of the 2028 Olympic cycle and we’re excited for what lies ahead on the road to LA 2028.”

The Booth siblings posted a 2-7-6-6-2-7 during the light wind event.

Liddell and Brown’s scorecard read 19-9-1-5-4-14.

Both crews will race a number of events in Australia over the summer as they chase points and results to qualify for LA Olympic funding.

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