First four Canadian sailors have qualified to be nominated to the 2023 Pan American Games Team
by Sail Canada 6 Feb 18:34 PST
The first four sailors have qualified to be nominated to Team Canada's Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Team following one of the qualification events, the US Open Sailing Series in Clearwater, Florida, which ended on Sunday after four days of competition.
The Canadians who qualified to be nominated over the weekend are Will Jones (Jerseyville, ON-RHYC) and Justin Barnes (Pickering, ON-RCYC) in 49er, Mac Morrin (Kingston, ON) in men's Kiteboarding, as well as Rebecca Heller (Dunrobin, ON-KYC) in women's iQFoil. Kiteboarding and iQFoil are two new Olympic events set to debut at Paris 2024.
After initially qualifying a quota spot for Canada as per PanAm Sailing qualification criteria (panamsailing.org), they then qualified themselves by being the top Canadians in their event at the same competition, as stated in Sail Canada's Santiago 2023 Pan American Games Sailing Internal Nomination Procedures, which are available at www.sailing.ca/sc_event/2023-pan-american-games.
Jones, Barnes, Morrin and Heller are the first four sailors to qualify to be nominated by the Canadian Olympic Committee as members of the Canadian sailing team for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, which will be held October 20 to November 5 in Santiago, Chile.
The Santiago 2023 Pan American Games will be one of many opportunities to qualify quota spots for countries for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
A close battle in 49er
In 49er, the newly-created team from last fall comprised of Tokyo 2020 Olympian Will Jones and Justin Barnes finished first amongst the countries that had not yet qualified for Santiago, finishing fourth overall and ahead of sailors from Mexico, Brazil and the United States Virgin Islands. Because of the inclement weather, only two days of racing out of a total four were held.
Tied with the Canadian team comprised of Arie Moffat and Sam Bonin after eight races, Jones and Barnes finished second in the ninth and last event, just ahead of Moffat and Bonin, who took the third spot. Jones and Barnes then earned their qualification by only a one-point margin over their Canadian competitors.
"We are super excited to have qualified for the Pan American Games," said Will Jones and Justin Barnes. "This regatta in Clearwater ended up being really short, with only two of four days of racing, so the pressure was on to perform on the days we did race."
"We are happy with the improvements we are making as a team and excited for what the future brings. Big shout out and respect to our training partners Arie and Sam, who were super fast this weekend and pushed it to the last race. It is exciting to have our Canadian squads pushing each other to a higher level at every regatta."
Mac Morrin qualifies at the last race in Kiteboarding
In men's Kiteboarding, a new Olympic event to be held for the first time at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Mac Morrin from Kingston, ON, earned his qualification for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in the very last of the 11 races that were held over the competition.
Trailing by 0.3 points behind the last of the three spots available in Clearwater, which was held by an athlete from Colombia, Morrin scored a 10th-place finish in that last race while the Colombian sailor ended up 13th, allowing him to take over the last spot available in Clearwater. The USA and Mexico also each qualified for a spot.
"After a big weekend battling it out on the water and a few hard months of training, I am excited to have qualified for the Pan American games and to be able to continue the journey to the Paris 2024 Olympics," said Mac Morrin.
Rebecca Heller in iQFoil
In women's iQFoil, Rebecca Heller also qualifies for Santiago 2023.
"After facing challenging weather conditions and talented competitors, I am happy overall with the progress I've made after moving into the iQFoil class," said Rebecca Heller. "I am excited to have qualified Canada for the Pan American Games and look forward to continuing my training leading up to the Games."
In women's Kiteboarding, Emily Bugeja was the best of the four Canadians in action with a 12th-place result overall, but she finished fourth amongst the countries that had not already qualified, behind the top-3 comprised of the USA, Argentina and Colombia, which earned spots.
The next opportunity in Kiteboarding to qualify a spot for Canada for the 2023 Pan American Games will be at the 2023 Panam Championship to be held in March in the Dominican Republic, where the last three available spots will be awarded.
Canadian athletes in ILCA 6 and ILCA 7 already qualified a spot for Canada last summer and will be able to qualify themselves for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games at the Princess Sofia Regatta in Palma, Spain, April 3-8.
In 49erFX and Nacra 17, because the last qualifying event for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games in Clearwater was cancelled, Panam Sailing moved forward with the procedure for the reallocation of unused quota spots, as outlined in the Pan Am Sailing qualification criteria (panamsailing.org), and based on numerous factors. As for the ILCA 6 and ILCA 7, Canadian sailors in 49erFX and Nacra 17 will look to qualify their team at the Princess Sofia Regatta if Canada secures a spot for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
Sailors in the Sunfish, Snipe and Lightning classes, which are not Olympic events, will qualify at competitions to be held later this year.
Canadian results at the US Open Sailing Series in Clearwater, Florida:
49er
4 (1) William Jones (Jerseyville, ON-RHYC) & Justin Barnes (Pickering, ON-RCYC)
5 (2) Arie Moffat (Kingston, ON-KYC) & Samuel Bonin (Toronto, ON-RCYC)
9 (3) Thomas & William Staples (Beaconsfield, QC) - RSLYC
10 (4) Ryan Wood (West Vancouver, B.C.-RVYC) & Hunter Hoy (Kirkland, QC)
11 (5) Dylan Jones (Victoria, B.C.-RVicYC) & Jonathan Kelly (Nanaimo, B.C.-RVYC)
iQFoil (W)
9 (1) Rebecca Heller (Dunrobin, ON-KYC)
Kiteboarding (M)
11 (1) Mac Morrin (Kingston, ON-KYC)
14 (2) Logan Sutherland (Toronto, ON)
16 (3) Michael Brodeur (Montreal, QC-BYC)
23 (4) Charles Jenkins
Kiteboarding (W)
12 (1) Emily Bugeja (Vancouver, B.C.-RVYC)
13 (2) Marie-Ève Mayrand (Calgary, AB)
14 (3) Nataliya Leshko (Toronto, ON)
15 (4) Martyna Dakowicz (Oakville, ON)
ILCA 6
8. Maura Dewey (Victoria, B.C.-RVicYC)
14. Clara Gravely (Toronto, ON-ABYC)
23. Hunter Parks (Pickering, ON-FBYC/ABYC/OST)
27. Chris Mouland (Toronto, ON-OST)
30. Federico Donzino
45. Annie Balasubramanian (Toronto, ON-RCYC/OST)
ILCA 7
26. Daniel Connors (Upper Tantallon, N.S.-RNSYS)
More information on the selection process for the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games is available at www.sailing.ca/sc_event/2023-pan-american-games.