US SAILING's Team set for XV Pan American Games

by Marine Lane on 21 Jul 2007 Front L>R: Scott Ikle, Augie Diaz, Paige Railey, Nate Vilardebo, Andrew Campbell, Ben Barger, Bill Faude, Bob Merrick, David Starck, Geoff Becker. Back L>R: Sarah Hawkins, Dan Borrer, Eliza Cleveland, Tracy Nan Smith, Nancy Rios, Jody Starck, Patrick Wilson, Josh Putnam, Bill Ward (photo-Bob Long)

A team of 16 elite American sailors has arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is ready to battle for gold at the XV Pan American Games. Racing begins this Sunday, July 22, in nine disciplines, including four Olympic classes - Laser (Men), Laser Radial (Women) and RS:X (Men and Women) - and five non-Olympic, open classes - Hobie 16, J/24, Lightning, Snipe and Sunfish. The Medal Races are scheduled for Saturday, July 28.

USA's Pan Am Games Sailing Team includes world-class athletes who have excelled in the sport of sailing. Several athletes have competed in previous Olympic and Pan American Games, while others are currently training with the common goal of making the 2008 Olympic Sailing Team.

The members of the 2007 Pan American Games Sailing Team are:
. Hobie 16 (Multihull Open) - Bob Merrick (Branford, Conn.)/ Eliza Cleveland (Branford, Conn.)
. J/24 (Keelboat Open) - Daniel Borrer (St. Augustine Beach, Fla.)/ Nate Vilardebo (Tampa, Fla.)/ Patrick Wilson (Savannah, Ga.)/ Josh Putnam (Augusta, Ga.)
. Laser (Single-handed Dinghy Men) - Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.)
. Laser Radial (Single-handed Dinghy Women) - Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
. Lightning (Multi-crewed Dinghy Open) - David Starck (Buffalo, N.Y.)/ Jody Starck (Buffalo, N.Y.)/ Bill Faude (Chicago, Ill.)
. RS:X Men (Windsurfer Men) - Ben Barger (Tampa, Fla.)
. RS:X Women (Windsurfer Women) - Nancy Rios (Cocoa Beach, Fla.)
. Snipe (Double-handed Dinghy Open) - Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.)/Tracy Smith (Newport, R.I.)
. Sunfish (Single-handed Dinghy Open) - Paul Foerster (Rockwall, Texas)

Three-time Olympic medalist Paul Foerster, who will compete in the singlehanded Sunfish this year, won a gold medal in the J/24 class at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina. He won an Olympic gold medal in the 470 class at the 2004 Games in Athens Greece with crew Kevin Burnham. Foerster also won two Olympic silver medals in two different classes. In 1992, he won silver in the doublehanded Flying Dutchman at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, and in 2000, along with fellow 2007 Pan Am Games teammate Bob Merrick, he brought home a silver medal in the 470 class from the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Merrick will compete in the multihull Hobie 16 with Eliza Cleveland at this year's Pan Am Games.

Thirty-six years after winning a silver medal at the 1971 Pan Am Games in Cali, Columbia, veteran Snipe sailor Augie Diaz and his crew, Tracy Smith, are ready to challenge this year's international fleet. Another Pan Am Games medalist is Jody Starck, who received a silver medal in the 470 Women class at the 1995 Pan Am Games in Argentina. This year, Starck joins her husband, skipper David Starck, and Bill Faude in the Lightning class.

The four sailors of Olympic class boats - Laser sailor Andrew Campbell, Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey and RS:X sailors Nancy Rios and Ben Barger -- are fresh from competing at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal last week. One year from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, these four athletes have spent an intense summer criss-crossing Europe, as they battled top international sailors at major Olympic class regattas.

At only 19 years old, Laser Radial sailor Paige Railey received two distinguished awards based on her outstanding accomplishments in 2006: the US SAILING's Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year. Railey's 2006 victories include the Semaine Olympique Française in Hyères, France; the ISAF World Sailing Games in Neusiedl, Austria; and the Good Luck Beijing-2006 Qingdao International Regatta, the first test event in China at the venue of the 2008 Olympic Regatta.

The J/24 foursome of Dan Borrer, Nate Vilardebo, Patrick Wilson and Josh Putnam recently won the 2007 St Petersburg NOOD J/24 Regatta for the second year in a row, as well as the Jacksonville J/24 King's Day Regatta in 2006.

These 16 elite athletes qualified for the 2007 Pan American Games Sailing Team after winning a select regatta previously determined as a qualifying event for each class. If a winner declined the opportunity, the spot was offered to the next placed team at the qualifying event. US SAILING's Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) then nominated the team to the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Athletes must be U.S. citizens to qualify for the team, members of US SAILING and the classes they sail in.

Joining the team in Rio de Janeiro are: Team Leader Scott Iklé (Geneva, N.Y.) Head Coach Geoff Becker (Annapolis, Md.) and Assistant Coach Bill Ward (St. Mary's City, Md.), Team Administrator Sarah Hawkins (Newport, R.I.) and Athletic Trainer Shawn Hunt (Hollywood, Fla.).


The XV Pan American Games will feature 5,654 athletes from 42 nations competing in 37 sports. The sailing competition will be held at the Glória Marina in the Guanabara Bay. The Pan American Games are held every four years, historically one year before the Olympic Games. The first Pan American Games were held in 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.