Zac Littlewood is a sailor who was awarded a Tier 1 Scholarship within the 2022 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, and was paired with Olympic gold medallist Steve Hooker OAM as his Mentor.
Zac was born in Perth in 2001 and started sailing as an eight-year-old at the Royal Freshwater Yacht Club. He is now a world champion.
Australian selection arrived as early as 2012 when Zac made a national junior team, and two years later he won the first of his five national titles. Zac then became Australia’s youngest open world champion when he won gold at the Laser Radial Men’s World Championships in Germany as an 18-year-old. He was still young enough to enter the 2018 Youth Sailing World Championships as Australia’s only representative, and he came home from the USA with a bronze medal. A year later, he won silver at the same event.
Zac then made the natural transition to Olympic Class, Laser Standard, and worked closely with Belinda Stowell and Michael Blackburn, who guided him to even more success. He was included in the Australian Sailing Squad in 2021 and won his second international title at the U/21 World Championships in Poland, earning him the title of the number 1 international junior sailor.
The Olympic Games in Paris beckon for Zac, who has already completed a Business degree in Human Resource Management and Marketing. He is also passionate about psychology and mental health in sport and everyday life.
“I was incredibly happy and honoured to find out that I was chosen as a Sport Australia Hall of Fame Tier 1 recipient for 2022. Looking at all the past winners of the Scholarship and what they have achieved after receiving this support, is a real inspiration and motivation for myself. Having access to Steve Hooker who has reached the pinnacle of his sport is exciting and I look forward to learning as much as I can from his experiences as well as his feedback on what I can do better as an athlete and how to increase sponsorship and funding.” – Zac Littlewood on being selected as a 2022 Tier 1 Scholarship Holder.
Awards, Honours & Achievements
- 2018: Laser Radial Men’s World Championships – Champion
- 2018: World Sailing Youth Championships – Bronze
- 2018: Laser Radial – Australian National and Oceania Championships – Champion
- 2019: Laser Radial – Australian National and Oceania Championships – Champion
- 2019: World Sailing Youth Championships – Silver
- 2019: Laser Radial Youth World Championships – 7th
- 2020: Laser Radial Men’s World Championships – 7th
- 2021: Under 21 Laser World Championships – Champion
- 2022: Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship Holder – Tier 1
