Yachting: Tobin gets Olympics' spot ahead of defending champ

Seven months from the Olympics and there are big winners and losers already in the New Zealand camp, with windsurfer JP Tobin selected ahead of defending champion Tom Ashley today.

The 12 members of the sailing team, named today, are the first of the New Zealand Olympic team to be announced for London 2012, with the men's RS:X selection easily the most contentious.

Ashley won gold in the event at Beijing and has kept Tobin out of the past two Olympics.

Their intense rivalry has existed for years and there were questions about the decision being delayed. But the more consistent form of Tobin, who finished fifth, one place ahead of Ashley, at the recent World Sailing Championships in Perth, was the deciding factor according to selector Jez Fanstone.

"JP has been working hard, he's had a fantastic year, he's in form and he's going to the Olympic Games,'' he said.

Fanstone added that he didn't know how Ashley had taken the news but "he had been spoken to''.

"You enter sport knowing it's a competitive arena. We can only take one person in this discipline of the sport. Sport's pretty hard, you put your heart and soul into it ... so yeah I'm sure he is bitterly disappointed.''

Tobin, 34, appeared in a state of mild shock, saying he had been asked via text last night to come to Auckland's Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron with his Sailing NZ T-shirt today.

Asked if it had sunk in, he said: "Not really. It probably will tonight once I catch up with my family. They're all screaming, so it's going to be a happy day.''

Tobin said he liked the Weymouth course where the London 2012 regatta will be held. He won a Sail for Gold medal there this year and the conditions suit him, but there is no doubt the pressure is now on for him to win at least bronze.

When asked about the expectation, he said: "Yeah, exciting isn't it?''

He added: "It's quite like sailing here [in Auckland] - flat water and the breeze can come in quite strong. There's a number of guys who have potential [to win] there, and I'm one of them.''

He was confident his programme of 2011, along with guidance from his coach Aaron McIntosh and training partner, world champion Dorian van Rijsselberghe, would be sufficient for success.

When asked if he had spoken to Ashley, Tobin said: "I haven't, but we will catch up I'm sure.''

He described their relationship as "competitive, a very intense rivalry, so that's just spurred us both on".

"Having been in his place a number of times [missing out on Olympic selection] I know how I felt and family and friends become much more important. For me it was just about picking myself up and re-focusing on the next goal.''

Tobin said he had thought about giving up on the sport at the highest level several times.

"Yeah it happens every now and then. When you get into an adverse situation like when I was building up for these World Championships [in Perth] and I stood on a poisonous fish right before the event. The eight hours I spent in hospital I was reflecting that I was racing in two days and that made me realise how much I love to do this and that strengthens your resolve.''

Also confirmed today were Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (49er), who won silver in Perth recently and Jo Aleh and Olivia Powrie (women's 470) and Andrew Murdoch (laser) who won bronze there. The others are: Paul Snow Hansen and Jason Saunders (men's 470), Stephanie Hazard, Jenna Hansen and Susannah Pyatt (women's match racing) and Sara Winther (laser radial).

The women's RS:X and men's Finn and Star class have yet to be nominated. The Star class is yet to qualify for an Olympic spot.