Is the US. on the way back in Olympic Sailing?

by David Schmidt, Sail-World USA Editor on 8 Aug 2015 The USA was historically the best performing Olympic sailing team until the 1990's when the mantle tranferred to GBR, London 2012 was a low point for US. - who did not make the podium at all, now are they on their way back?

While there’s been a ton of recent buzz about the water-quality issues facing the city of Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the world has a chance to catch a sneak preview of what next summer will offer in terms of setting, wind, tides and-of course-water-quality issues at the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2014 (August 2-9), which is serving as the final official test event before the XXXI Olympiad. For U.S. sailing fans, U.S. Sailing has sent a strong team of experienced sailors down to Rio with the goal of speed checking against rivals and, most importantly, learning as much as possible about the Olympic race track.

While the 2012 London Olympics were disastrous Games for U.S.-flagged sailors, the team has been spending a ton of time in Rio, learning as much as they can, and the team has invested heavily in an analysis of local conditions, in order to provide our athletes with the most comprehensive local-condition models possible.

And while expectations can be as treacherous as assumptions, the great news is that several U.S. athletes have already seen their best results of this quadrennial on the Rio racetrack, including Men’s 470 sailors Stu McNay and David Hughes. Also, the 49erFX team of Paris Henken and Helena Scutt are on a recent tear after earning a proud Bronze medal at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

And in the Women’s 470 class, Annie Haeger and Briana Provancha have been enjoying a strong 2015 season, with a Bronze medal finish at the 470 European Championships, and are expected to be a serious threat for a podium finish at the Rio Olympics 2016.

But all eyes will be on Paige Railey, who earned a Gold at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games following a bad bicycling accident in 2014 that threatened to truncate her Olympic-sailing aspirations. But given that Railey is no stranger to Olympic-level racing and professional athleticism, the Florida native bounced back and has been posting some of the best results of her career. As for her experience sailing on Rio’s waters, Railey earned her first Gold medal in the Pan American Games here in 2007, so hopefully the confluence of her years of Olympic dedication and her local knowledge will help the 28-year old Railey, both at the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2015 and-much more importantly-at next summer’s Olympic Games.

Still, for many US Sailing Team Sperry athletes, the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2015 will be one of their first experiences sailing in the small-sized Olympic-level fleets with Olympic-level pressures. Here, the U.S.-flagged team made some serious investments in their coaching staff, including the addition of the always-fast Charlie McKee, a two-time Olympic medalist and America’s Cup veteran who is serving as the team’s High Performance Director. Hopefully McKee’s experience, coupled with the leadership of the infinitely capable Josh Adams, Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing, will help the team through the psychological bumps that come hand-in-hand with any elite-level regatta.

Still, it’s important to understand that recovering from a upset like the London 2012 Olympics takes time as well as serious investment in coaching, training programs and development pipelines, so while I am certainly pulling hard for US Sailing Team Sperry athletes to do well at the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2015, I’m hedging this hope with the reality that it’s next summer’s Games that matter most.

And, given that 2016 will be the first Olympic Games for many members of US Sailing Team Sperry, it’s important to remember that most Gold-medal performances happen in an athlete’s second or (more likely) third Games, as it takes years to meld pure sailing skill with the mental toughness, fortitude and gumption needed to stand on the top step on an Olympic podium.

Be sure to stay tuned to the Sail-world website for the latest news from the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta 2015, as it unfurls!