Bermudian sailor Nicole Stovell has been named Female Skipper of the Year by the Canadian Intercollegiate Sailing Association.

Stovell was given the honour after helping Dalhousie University’s sailing team to a string of prestigious regatta wins and the 20-year-old, who has been at the school for two years, was delighted to be recognised for her achievements.

“It always feels nice to be recognised by the intercollegiate system mostly because I love it so much,” Stovell said.

“Getting that kind of recognition just makes me feel it’s all been worth the showing up and participating.”

Stovell was part of the Dalhousie team that won the Fleet National Championships for the first time in a number of years and she outlined her reasons as to why she feels she was chosen for the award.

“I’m proud to say that Dalhousie is first in the rankings in the Canadian collegiate system now and that has not happened for some years,” she said.

“We brought the national trophy back to the East Coast after some time. It had been Queens University and McGill University winning it year after year, but this time our team were finally able to reclaim it and help Dalhousie to win the season.

“Our season here is from September and we started out by hosting the Maritime University Sailing Championships, which we won, and I was one of the skippers in that.

“So as well as the nationals we won our big regional event and then in October we went to Montreal to sail at McGill and did the Quebec Regionals, which we also won and I was skippering there alongside my crew Laura Hupman.”

After two years at Dalhousie University, Stovell has been named vice-president of the sailing team and she has learnt a lot about herself on and off the water.

“It’s a very different ball game from what I was doing before as I’m sailing a new boat, a C420, so I’ve learnt how to pick that up and get along with my crew,” she said.

“I’ve learnt how to handle myself more on a shorter racecourse and with more pressure, less space and less time. It requires quick thinking and decision making, which has definitely improved on my part.

“But I’ve seen growth in myself just by working within a team because not only am I part of the Dalhousie sailing team, which is mostly student run, I’m now an executive member and became vice-president this year.

“So I’m learning to co-operate with others and knowing my boundaries and what I’m willing to do for this team has really come to light. I’m excited to be a part of it.”

It is shaping up to be a big year for Stovell, who will be representing Bermuda at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay in August.

“It’s pretty exciting to be going to the Junior Pan Am Games in August,” she said,

“I’m really looking forward to representing the country at such a huge event.”