The chair of Brighton and Hove (Actually) Gay Men’s Chorus will be jetting off to Brazil this August as a member of the international jury for the Olympic sailing competition.
Alan Baser, who works as the University of Brighton’s risk and compliance manager, has also been appointed by World Sailing as an international technical official (ITO).
The competition will take place from Marina da Gloria with racing on Guanabara Bay and the city of Rio providing a beautiful backdrop.
Alan, both an elite-level international judge and international umpire for World Sailing, the sport’s governing body, has already officiated at a number of the world’s top level competitions but sees the Olympic Games is the pinnacle event.
He said: “It’s a real honour and privilege, the Olympic Games is the competition that all sports people strive to compete in and for us as officials it is the pinnacle. I expect it to be pretty pressurised because we’ll be making decisions that can mean the difference between an athlete medalling or not.
“I’ve been working towards this for about ten years and the journey to Rio for me really started gaining momentum last year when I was appointed as a member of the international jury for Aquece Rio Olympic Test Event and later when I took the helm as chief umpire for the Sailing World Cup Finals last year in Abu Dhabi.
“In all honesty I thought the likelihood of being appointed to the Olympics was low as the nationality balance required normally means only one ITO from a country but World Sailing decided to apply a clause from the selection policy that allowed for two ITO’s from one country provided that one is male and one is female – and so they appointed me!”
Congratulations Alan
I’m just confused – did Alan get the job because he was the best candidate? Or was it because he was gay? Or was it, based upon his last comment, because he is neither male nor female?