HEIL Erik

General
PARTNER
He and his crewmate Thomas Plossel first sailed together in 2001 at Yacht-Club Tegel in Berlin, Germany. The pair competed in the Teeny, 420, and 470 classes before moving on to the 49er in 2011. "Thomas also comes from Berlin and grew up there - he was even in the same club with me. I always think that when you start a sport, you are actually shaped by the group that is around you and we were just lucky. We had a really great group, that's why we stayed with the sport." (hp-sailing.de, 01 Apr 2021; germansailingteam.de, 11 Nov 2019; digitalewochekiel.de, 14 Aug 2018)

EDUCATION AND SAILING
After winning a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he and his crewmate Thomas Plossel considered ending their partnership due to their education commitments. Ultimately their coach from their teenage years, Michael Koster, kept them together by persuading them that they could still compete in sport while keeping their professional ambitions on track. "I'm extremely happy with how we did it. I wouldn't have thought that it was possible. [Nevertheless] it's important to us to advance professionally in addition to sailing." (segelreporter.com, 09 Mar 2020; tokio.sportschau.de, 28 Feb 2020)

MEDICAL STUDENT
In 2017 he began studying medicine at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland. "I've always been interested in medicine, and it puts me in a great mood." (Facebook profile, 27 Nov 2020; sueddeutsche.de, 22 Mar 2020; segelreporter.com, 09 Mar 2020; tokio.sportschau.de, 28 Feb 2020)