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Sean O'Brien (born 6 Jan 1984 in Brisbane) is an Australian professional windsurfer competing on the PWA World Tour and the International Formula Windsurfing Class Tour. He was ranked 7th in the World in Formula Windsurfing in 2012.
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Early life
Sean grew up in Brisbane, Australia, finishing high school at Marist College Ashgrove. After listing as a notable alumni at Marist, Sean graduated a Bachelor of Psychological Science / Biomedical Science degree at the University of Queensland in 2004.
Career
In 2014, Sean won his 7th Oceanic & Australian Title in Formula Windsurfing at the Downunder Pro on Botany Bay, Sydney, NSW.
Coaching
Sean worked for 3 years as the windsurfing coach for the QLD State High Performance Sailing unit at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron club in Brisbane. During this term he successfully qualified Australian youth sailors Luke Baillie and Joanna Sterling to represent Australia at the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championships in 2009 and Joanna again in 2010.
Later he coached 5-time Olympian and 2-time PBA World Champion Jessica Crisp to her first ISAF World Cup gold medal in 2009 at the SailMelbourne regatta and a clean sweep of the Australian Sail-Downunder Series by also taking gold in the SailSydney regatta at Woollahra Sailing Club in the RS:X Olympic class.
Olympic Campaign
Sean campaigned for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the RS:X Olympic board for 2 years during 2006-2007 before a back injury ended his campaign in late 2007, despite winning the 2007 Australian Olympic Windsurfing Championships and being in the box seat for a successful Beijing Olympics berth.
Personal life
Sean currently works in digital media design in Australia and divides his time between summer in Australia and winter in Europe to compete on the Pro Windsurfing Tours and contribute to the tours as a committee member of the International Formula Windsurfing Class.
In 2012 Sean launched the first ever windsurfing fitness training program GetWindsurfFit in conjunction with his trainer Nic Pillonel from Switzerland. The book was widely received and is currently being translated into another 3 languages for future release.