The five athletes, who will compete in the British sailing team when the event takes place at Weymouth and Portland next year, are John Robertson, Hannah Stodel, Stephen Thomas, Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell.

Robertson, Stodel and Thomas will compete in the Sonar - three-person keelboat event - while Rickham and Birrell will compete in the SKUD 18 - two-person keelboat event - and have been tipped as strong gold medal prospects.

Tim Hollingsworth, the chief executive of the BPA, said: "This is a very exciting moment in the build-up to London: the selection of the first athletes who will represent this country in 2012 really brings it home that the Games are just around the corner.

"I am delighted that the first athletes to achieve this honour are being selected to ParalympicsGB.

"They have worked very hard over many years to achieve this and I hope the nation will join me in congratulating them now and supporting them in a year's time on the water at Weymouth and Portland."

The five athletes are the first individuals to be officially selected for either ParalympicsGB or Team GB and Rickham claimed she was delighted at the news.

The 29-year-old, who was born in Jamaica but lives in Surrey, was injured following a diving accident in 1995 but did not take up the Paralympic sport seriously until 2005.

She finished a disappointing fifth in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Regatta alongside Birrell but said the two are hoping to finish in amongst the medals next year.

"It's great to be selected, we're really very happy and excited and looking forward to next year and putting in the hard work to try and ensure we get a medal this time around," Rickham (pictured) told insideworldparasport.

"A medal at London 2012 would make up for everything that happened in Beijing and it was actually a big decision for Niki and I as to whether would continue after Beijing.

"We'd had such a short lead up to Beijing that we didn't really owe each other anything but there was unfinished business so we did carry on and we're both determined to learn the lessons from before and perform at our home Games.

"Our recent World Championship win at Weymouth and Portland has definitely given us confidence for next year – not only for ourselves, but it was also important for the other teams to see we could lay it down at our home venue after a string of silvers at the Sail for Gold Regatta.

"We showed at the right time at a major event that we could pull it out the bag and prove to the other teams that we can do it in the Games venue."

Birrell, who has cerebral palsy and is the youngest member of the British sailing team, said: "I'm personally delighted to have been given another chance at winning a Paralympic medal with Alex by the selectors.

"It would mean everything to me to win gold next year.

"Winning gold would be fantastic not just for me, but all the people who have helped us along the way.

"It would be perfect if it happens but we've got 12 months of extensive work and dedication before then."

The athletes were officially told the news that they had been selected for the London 2012 Paralympics at the Weymouth and Portland International Regatta and Penny Briscoe, the Performance Director at the BPA, said it was a special moment to tell them.

"It is a great privilege for me to be here in Weymouth and Portland today to congratulate personally these athletes on their selection," she said.

"Their recent results at the World Championships, in which Niki and Alex won their third successive World title and John, Hannah and Stephen won silver, are not only testament to their hard work and ambition but are also a credit to the world-class performance environment that the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) has in place to support their Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

"Make no mistake; these athletes have done just as much to earn their place as the Olympic sailors are doing right now to achieve theirs."

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