The Olympic pair Dahlberg/Karlsson have spent hundreds of hours mastering the waters in Marseille.
They are experienced individually, completely new together in the Olympic context. Now they're going for gold.
I believe firmly in our team, says Karlsson.
39-year-old veteran Anton Dahlberg is competing in his fifth Olympics, now with 10 years younger Lovisa Karlsson in the new mixed 470 class. She is competing in her second Olympic Games.
They seem to be a well-knit pair who like to complete each other's sentences.
We like the Olympic Games, so we have the experience. It's like Lovisa says, it's fun to sail in Marseille, you never quite know what to expect, says Dahlberg with a smile.
Sweden has taken an average of one sailing medal in each Olympics since the beginning of the 20th century.
Now the pressure is great on the eight-person team to deliver in the capricious bay of Marseille. Dahlberg took silver in Tokyo three years ago, then with Fredrik Bergström, when the two-person dinghy 470 was separate men's and women's classes.
Now it's obvious for the new duo to go for gold.
We've been working together for three years now, and I believe firmly in our team that we've built together, says Lovisa Karlsson.
"Will take medals"
Another merited sailor is Josefin Olsson, who also just missed the gold in Tokyo.
It was one of the reasons I continued, says Olsson, who is competing in her fourth Olympics in the ILCA 6 class, previously laser radial.
The 34-year-old has, like all the other sailors on the team, sacrificed a lot of time to try to become the best in her sport. Before the Games, they spent 100 days of training on the Riviera to master the conditions.
The sailing national team's captain, Magnus Grävare, is himself a former Olympic sailor. Unfortunately, he didn't win any medals, he had to settle for a tenth place in Los Angeles 1984. But in France, he believes firmly in delivery from the blue-yellow team.
We will take medals, we have the best team maybe ever.
Setting the bar high
When asked if he would describe it as a failure if Sweden doesn't reach the podium, he responds:
Is it a failure? Yes, we should take a medal.
Another pair with great confidence is Olympic debutants Vilma Bobeck and Rebecca Netzler in the 49er FX two-person dinghy.
The goal is gold, bold enough. Then it depends on which week we get, it's impossible to say in advance because sailing is such a complex sport, says Bobeck.
They have sailed together for two and a half years and performed at the top, including taking World Championship gold in The Hague 2023.
We've managed to deliver under pressure before. We just hope we can do it again. And you have to dare to aim high to win, says Netzler.
The sailors, their classes, and when they compete:
49er FX (Vilma Bobeck & Rebecca Netzler): July 28–August 1
IQ-foil windsurfing (Johanna Hjertberg): July 28–August 2
ILCA 6 (Josefin Olsson): August 1–6
470 (Anton Dahlberg & Lovisa Karlsson): August 2–7
Nacra 17 (Emil Järudd and Hanna Jonsson): August 3–7
