USA One-Shot Olympic trials start Friday

by Cynthia Goss US Sailing on 5 Oct 2007
Friday, the USA's top Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls will sail to starting lines on the U.S. East and West coasts to compete in the One-Shot regatta that will decide who gets to go to the 2008 Olympic Games. The U.S. Olympic Trials are a one time event - winner takes all.

Coordinated by US Sailing and six host organizations, this winner-takes-all regatta determines which sailors will represent the United States at the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Upon approval from the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), the athletes who win the Trials will be named to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams. The regatta concludes on Sunday, October 14.

According to Dean Brenner, chairman of US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee, the ability to select the Olympic and Paralympic teams concurrently in 11 classes and nearly a year before the 2008 Games will have a great benefit to the U.S. team.

'Up until this point, the focus of the Olympic Sailing Committee has been preparing all our athletes for these Trials,' said Brenner. 'But once the Trials are over, we will all shift into the next phase together, as a team—and the focus of our energies and resources becomes concentrated on those sailors who will represent our country at the 2008 Games.'

Among the 240 sailors competing at the Trials, the diversity in sailing resumes is vast. From Star sailors Mark Reynolds and crew Hal Haenel who have already raced two Olympic-medal performances together (Reynolds captured a third medal in 2000), to young sailors to watch—such as Lake Forest high school student Anne Haeger, who captured a silver medal at this summer's 2007 Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship and will race her first Trials in the Laser Radial class.

But despite the variety in racing credentials, all sailors at the Trials face a singular consequence: for class winners, this regatta will be a gateway to their Olympic and Paralympic dreams; for all others, this event will bring medal aspirations for this quadrennium to an end.

Below is a snapshot of classes, contenders, and venues. The Yngling class is the only class not competing at this event. Team selection for the three-person women's keelboat is based on two international class events: last summer's ISAF Combined Olympic Class World Championship (Cascais, Portugal) and this winter's Yngling Women’s World Championship (Miami, Fla.).

-2.4mR, SKUD-18, Sonar / Rhode Island Sailing Foundation / Newport, R.I.

Sailing became a full medal sport at the 2000 Paralympic Games, and the U.S. has since shown its capacity for medals—capturing bronze in the 2.4mR single-handed class in 2000, and a silver (2.4mR) and bronze (three-person Sonar) in 2004. The two-person SKUD-18 makes its Paralympic debut at the 2008 Games, and US sailors have already shown their promise in this boat.

At last month's 2007 IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship, the U.S. had four boats in the top 10; SKUD-18 World Champions Karen Mitchell/J.P. Creignou as well as 2005 US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Nick Scandone/Maureen McKinnon-Tucker silver medalists at the Worlds, will be among the teams competing for a Paralympic berth.

US Sonar sailors took 1-2 at the IFDS Worlds, and gold medalists Rick Doerr Bill Donohue/Tim Angle and silver medalists Paul Callahan/Tom Brown/Roger Cleworth will be among the teams vying for a team spot. Callahan represented the U.S. at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney (Australia). Rhode Island Sailing Foundation will coordinate with New York Yacht Club, Ida Lewis Yacht Club, and Sail Newport to host all classes racing in Rhode Island.

470 Men, 470 Women, RS:X Men, RS:X Women / Alamitos Bay Yacht Club / Long Beach, Calif.

The Men's 470 team of Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and crew David Hughes, seeking their first Olympic berth, have been on a roll in their all-out campaign the last three years, but they were outsailed by Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl after missing the first day of the Pre-Trials on these same waters a year ago. Justin Law and crew Mike Miller rate a dark horse nod.

The Women's 470 team of Amanda Clark and crew Sarah Mergenthaler rank eighth in the world and have won most of their majors the last three years. But in last year's Pre-Trials, they had to come from behind on the last day to beat their persistent rivals, Erin Maxwell and crew Isabelle Kinsolving. If those two teams get distracted by their close rivalry, the team of Molly Carapiet and Molly O'Bryan could steal the berth.

The Men's RS:X sailboard has become an American long shot event since Scott Steele won silver when sailboards made their Olympic debut in 1984, followed by Mike Gebhardt's bronze in 1988 and silver in '92. This year Ben Barger is a favorite to win the slot after placing an uplifting third place at Kiel Week this summer and winning all eight races in last year's Pre-Trials at Long Beach. But there's an intriguing wrinkle: at age 41, Gebhardt is back. Stay tuned.

The Women's RS:X sailboard is the only Olympic class where the U.S. has not yet qualified, but that should not diminish the three-way battle among Nancy Rios, Karen Marriott, and Farrah Hall. Rios won six of eight races in last year's Pre-Trials. The last chance for the U.S. to qualify in this class will be at the RS: X World Championships, to be held in Auckland, New Zealand, this January.

49er / Southwestern Yacht Club / San Diego, Calif.

Racing with a different crew for the 2000 Games, 49er sailor Morgan Larson lost a heartbreaker Trials to Jonathan and Charlie McKee for the U.S. slot, and he's really had his game face on in this campaign racing with Pete Spaulding, a 2004 Olympian. Last year's Pre-Trials were sailed in lively breeze that produced a shootout with Dalton Bergan and crew Zack Maxam, and Spaulding's former Olympic skipper Tim Wadlow and crew Chris Rast. Look for the same kind of show. Unlike other classes, 49ers are slated to sail three races instead of two each day.

Finn / Newport Harbor Yacht Club / Balboa, Calif.

With 41 boats, the Finn class will be the largest fleet at the Trials—and the class will be populated by sailors with a wide range of time in this one-man dinghy. At age 23, young Zach Railey, 16th in the ISAF rankings, will have his hands full of 40 other Finn-thusiasts—including several veteran campaigners who were sailing this boat since before he was born.

The list includes Brian Boyd, Darrell Peck, and local hope Andy Casey, who finished ahead of Railey in last year's Pre-Trials—in addition to Andrew Kern, Chris Raab and Geoff Ewenson. Railey's younger sister Paige will be competing for a Laser Radial berth on the East Coast.

Laser, Laser Radial / Rhode Island Sailing Foundation / Middletown, R.I.

Competitors in the single handed Laser and Laser Radial classes have been engaged in intensive training programs—crisscrossing continents and collecting trophies at world-class events. But despite past achievements, the Trials are the great equalizer and competitors begin the regatta with a clean slate.

In the women's Laser Radial class, making its Olympic debut for the 2008 Games, Anna Tunnicliffe and Paige Railey have both proven to be powerhouse talents. In 2006, the 20-year-old Railey was crowned both the Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and the ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year, and wins for Tunnicliffe, 24, at the 2006 Rolex Miami OCR and The Good Luck Beijing - 2007 Qingdao International Regatta prove these two women are competitors to watch in this 22-boat class.

For competitors in the 33-boat Laser class—including Andrew Campbell, who captured gold at this year's Pan Am Games, and fellow U.S. Sailing Team member Kurt Taulbee and Brad Funk. Funk reporting to his supporters on the eve of the Trials, may sum up the sentiments of his peers: 'I expect this to be the hardest regatta I’ve ever competed in and I expect a number