Nikola Girke
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Windsurfing
Members
Nikola Girke's Updates
Supported Campaigns
Biography
Luke is an extremely driven athlete who has built a history of success through his talent and hard work. Being an expert at attacking his weaknesses has allowed him to rise through the ranks of multiple fleets, moving from the Youth World Champion in the Laser, to an Olympian in the 470 Class. As well as a being a successful sailor, he is an Engineering graduate from the University of British Columbia, which has given him a great platform to work from in the sport of sailing. Additionally, he is also a mentor to younger athletes in the community, volunteering his time and energy to help the next generation of Canadian sailors make the jump. Over the past 3 Years Luke has been competing in the Nacra 17 Class in which he is the reigning North American Champion and has qualified Canada for an Olympic berth for Rio in 2016.
Nikola, a three-time Canadian Olympian, is amongst only a few athletes who have made the transition from one sport to another and has competed in two different events at the Olympic Games (Sailing & Windsurfing). If two sports weren’t daunting enough, Nikola switched it up yet again for Rio 2016, this time qualifying Canada with her teammate Luke on the new mixed crew catamaran, the Nacra17. This would be Nikola's 4th Olympic Games. Passionate about being out in nature, Nikola spends her free time surfing, biking, cross-country skiing, windsurfing, contributes her time to numerous charities while occasionally fiddling on a classic VW bus.
Together we've dedicated all of our time to learning how to sail this boat, striving to become one of the best in the world. Sometimes we clock our speed in training, here we celebrate over 21knots - which is almost 40km/h or 24miles/h. Definitely helmet worthy speeds!!!