The Catalan Olympic medalist José María Van der Ploeg takes over the pre-Olympic team.

The Board of Directors of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV), chaired by Julia Casanueva, has set up a new Olympic Preparation Committee (CPO) to develop the plan for the change and improvement of the selection and development system of the Spanish Olympic team for Tokyo 2020.

At the head of this new committee is the Olympic champion in Barcelona '92 José María Van der Ploeg, accompanied by the also gold medalist in Seoul' 88 José Luis Doreeste and the technicians Paul Depoorter, José Antonio Antón and Chimo Migulez- Devesa. Its main mission is to draw the master lines with which the Olympic technicians, coaches and athletes should be guided.

As explained by Chimo Migulez- Devesa, RFEV's sports vice president and CPO member, "the committee will play a technical role, focused on such aspects as the recruitment of staff and the distribution of financial aid, so that the Olympic preparation director can focus on specific sports work." "We will work with the DPO to make the best decisions that will allow us to have a team in Tokyo 2020 that is up to what the Spanish candle deserves."

José María Van der Ploeg, for his part, puts into value "the professionalism of the members of the committee, with experience in different fields of high competition." The coach of Finn's Olympic team in Seul 88 and Olympic gold in Barcelona 92 recognizes that "the current model has expired." "We did very well in the 1990s and in 2000 but now it is necessary to change it."

To date, the ultimate responsibility for the Spanish combination lay with a single person, the director of Olympic preparation; it will now be the CPO who makes the decisions following the proposals of the technicians. "The experience in team management has shown me that it is always better to consult and agree," José María Van der Ploeg recognizes, while pointing to the need to "advocate for common sense, applying a more flexible and open-to-change selection system to select the best athletes depending on the state of form and time that each of Spain's possible representatives in the Olympic Games."

At this new stage, the Olympic preparation director will be supported by the committee, of which he is also part, to carry out the most efficient management of the Spanish team. "Our objective is not to control, but to help the DPO in its work by being a point of support and consultation," says Van der Ploeg.

Van der Ploeg leads the new Olympic Preparation Committee of the Spanish de Vela