Cecilia Wollmann will be named in the Bermuda Olympic squad tomorrow but is still not over the shock of qualifying for the Rio Games.

The teenage sailor secured her place in the Laser Radial fleet in January at the World Cup in Miami, but does not think the reality of the situation will sink in until the opening ceremony in August.

Wollmann is likely to be the youngest member of the team, and said she was trying to think about the Games as “just another regatta”.

She said: “It is almost shocking that I have done that [qualified] when I am only 18. It always is quite a shock for me when people refer to me [as an Olympian] that way.

“It is getting more [real], people notice me, and congratulate me. I feel like walking into the opening ceremony will be the moment when it really hits me.”

Wollmann is in Rio this week and next preparing for the Olympics with Cristian Noe, her coach, and Mikey Wollmann her brother.

The trio will use the time to study current and wind patterns, with the Wollmann siblings racing against each other in practice sessions.

“He [Mikey] is in the girls’ boat right now so that’s useful for me, he’s able to work with me so I always have to push myself,” Wollmann said.

“It’s also helpful to see if it was a race, we can each go out to different sides [of the course] to see who ended up coming in first.”

As with any small nation Bermuda’s presence in Brazil is nothing compared to that of other nations, and Wollmann said that she was used to the disparity.

Her parents have supported her as much as they can financially, and Digicel Business and BTC have agreed to cover the family’s communications costs during the Games.

The staff at Alchemy Gym have also helped, getting her ready for the physical demands the Olympics will place on her.

Wollmann, for her part, is Digicel’s ambassador in Bermuda for Bring the Beat, the company’s Olympic advertising campaign.

Still, while there are few expectations on Wollmann at the Games, that does not mean there is no pressure on her to perform.

“Qualifying just lets you know that you have a lot of work still ahead of you,” she said. “It wasn’t necessarily [the] easy [part], but it does take a little bit of pressure off knowing that you have qualified, and know you are going.

“I don’t think there is as much pressure for me because I am so young, I have so many years that I could be competing. It wasn’t expected of me to qualify, so it’s pretty nice not having all that pressure.”

The work Wollmann has been putting in over the past several months at home and abroad has been geared to controlling as many elements of the race as she can, such as boat handling and having the right set-up with her ropes and sails.

The unknowns come during the event itself, with the Bermuda sailor saying she had been told by past Olympians that “crazy things can happen, both good and bad”.

She said: “Most of them have said that you can’t prepare really too much because it’s going to be so different to all the other competitions, which will be neat to see.”