US Sailing Team at the Pan American Games

US Sailing Team at the Pan American Games - Day 6

by US Sailing Team 3 Nov 2023 13:22 AEDT October 28 - November 5, 2023

2023 Pan American Games - Day 6 © US Sailing Team

The final days of the Pan American Games are approaching but Team USA has maintained intensity and is bringing home some early good news. Sarah Newberry Moore (Miami, FL) and David Liebenberg (Richmond, CA) secured USA country qualification for Paris 2024 in the Nacra 17. With the medal race still to come on Saturday, they are guaranteed either a silver or bronze medal with Argentina having already secured the gold medal.

"It's definitely a big relief," said Liebenberg. "For me, it's come in waves where we've been planning and knew it needed to happen and thought it would and were confident in it, but to have it done is really nice." Newberry Moore added "Overall, we maintained confidence that we were able to achieve this goal and that doesn't change how satisfying it is to have achieved it."

In a stand-out performance, winning seven of ten races over the last six days of racing, Erika Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) has secured a gold medal in the ILCA 6 class before the start of the upcoming medal race on Saturday, November 4th. Reineke put enough points between herself and Sarah Douglas, 2019 Lima Pan Am Games ILCA 6 gold medalist and Canadian Tokyo 2020 Olympian and will sail one final day with the confidence of a locked-in Gold Medal.

The USA was already guaranteed an ILCA 6 spot in Paris thanks to qualifying performances at the 2023 World Championships in The Netherlands, so the pressure was alleviated for Reineke this week in Chile. "I really wanted to treat this as [practice for the] Games because this is my first Games experience," said Reineke. "I haven't been to the Pan American Games or Olympic Games, so I wanted to take in the experience and try to perform how I'd want to at the Olympics. While there wasn't pressure to get an Olympic spot, there was pressure for me to win a medal, so I'm really happy to come away with that in the end."

Daniela Moroz (Lafayette, Calif.), having won 12 of 16 races in the Women's Formula Kite, is on track to win the overall event with tomorrow's medal series kicking off at 1310 local time, 1210 ET / 0910 PT. Team USA's Markus Edegran (West Palm Beach, Fla.) will enter the semifinals at 1300 local, 1200 ET / 0900 PT and work to secure a Paris 2024 country qualification in the Men's Formula Kite for USA.

Dominique Stater (Miami, Fla.) and Noah Lyons (Clearwater, Fla.) will sail the Women's and Men's iQFOiL medal series tomorrow. Stater is on track to win a medal, and, if she stays ahead of Canada's Rebecca Heller, will qualify the USA for a spot in the Women's iQFOiL at Paris 2024. In the Men's iQFOiL, Noah Lyons is in a close battle for country qualification with Aruban windsurfer, Ethan Westera. To qualify the US for a spot in the Paris 2024 Men's iQFOiL event, Lyons must finish as the top North American sailor.

Still in progress but tracking nicely with two remaining days of racing, USA's 49er and Lightning teams sit atop their respective leaderboards with a healthy number of points between them and second place. Specific medals are not yet guaranteed, but both teams are working to pull ahead as much as possible with a six-point buffer in the 49er standings and a seven-point buffer in the Lightning standings. With the Paris qualification spot already secure for the 49er, Barrows and Henken are hungry to win the Pan American Games this week in the 49er.

Working to move up the scoreboard are Team USA's Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea in the 49erFX, currently tied for 2nd and two points out of first, and Ernesto Rodriguez and Kathleen Tocke in the Snipe, four points out of third and in batting range for first. Roble and Shea are guaranteed a medal in the FX and are now working to turn it gold. See full results here.

2023 Pan American Games - Day 6 - photo © US Sailing Team

Paris 2024 Country Qualifier Update:

Nacra 17 – must finish as top North American country
- Secured pre-medal race
Women’s iQFOiL – must either finish as top North American country or as the top North American finisher after Mexico
- Currently on track to finish ahead of Canada’s Rebecca Heller
Men’s iQFOiL – must finish as top North American country
- Lyons needs to beat Ethan Westera of Aruba to secure USA qualification
Men’s Kite – must finish as top North American country
- Edegran will enter the finals series to fight for USA qualification
ILCA 7 – must finish as first or second North American country
- Petersen is currently 6th in the Pan Ams North American finishing lineup, but there are two more qualification opportunities at the 2024 World Championships in Australia and at the “Last Chance Regatta” in Hyères, France