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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marni Lane, US SAILING, 617.671.8332
Top-Ranked Members of the US Sailing Team Head to Qingdao, China for Olympic
Test Event
Portsmouth, R.I. (August 8, 2007)
One year before the 2008 Olympic Games, 18 number one-ranked members of the US Sailing Team (USST) are gearing up to compete against the best sailors in the world at The Good Luck Beijing - 2007 Qingdao International Regatta. The second of two annual Olympic Test Events, the regatta will be held at the location of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, the Qingdao International Marina in Qingdao, China, a coastal city located 430 miles east of Beijing.
Ranked a Grade 2 event by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), this 2007 Qingdao International Regatta is expected to draw 463 sailors from 52 countries and regions. The event will be held from August 9-24, with the first day of racing on August 15. Staggered medal races are scheduled for August 22 and 23.
"US SAILING is sending an exceptionally strong team to this year's Olympic Test Event," said US SAILING's Olympic Committee Chairman Dean Brenner, who is the Team Leader in Qingdao. "I look forward to seeing where we are against the best in the world. This will be an excellent preview of our strengths and weaknesses."
The nine classes selected for the 2008 Olympic Games are: Finn; 470 (Men and Women); Laser; Laser Radial; Neil Pryde RS:X (Men and Women); 49er, Star, Tornado; and Yngling.
The number one-ranked members of the USST were invited to compete in the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta:
Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy):
Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
470 Men (Men's Two Person Dinghy):
Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (Coronado, Calif.) and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.)
470 Women (Women's Two Person Dinghy):
Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (Harvey Cedars, N.J.)
49er (Skiff):
Morgan Larson (Capitola, Calif.) and Pete Spaulding (Santa Cruz, Calif.)
Laser (Men's One Person Dinghy):
Brad Funk (Clearwater, Fla.)
Laser Radial (Women's One Person Dinghy):
Anna Tunnicliffe (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
RS:X Men (Men's Windsurfer):
Benjamin Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
RS:X Women (Women's Windsurfer):
Nancy Rios (Cocoa, Fla.)
Star (Men's Keelboat):
John Dane (Gulfport, Miss.) and Austin Sperry (Gulfport, Miss.)
Tornado (Multihull):
John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Tex.)
Yngling (Women's Keelboat):
Sally Barkow (Chenequa, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayview, N.Y.)
Joining the team in China are: Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman and Team Leader Dean Brenner; High Performance Director and Head Coach Gary Bodie; Coaches Luther Carpenter, Jay Glaser, Skip Whyte, Jay Glaser, Mark Reynolds, Kenneth Andreasen, Aaron McIntosh, Anthony Kotoun, Steve Erickson and James Lyne; Boatwright Donovan Brennan; Medical Staff Shawn Hunt and Mark Kenna; Nutritionist Lisa Dorfman; Weather Forecaster Jennifer Lilly; and U.S.-China Liaison Dr. David Pan.
The US Sailing Team has circled the globe this summer, winning medals and achieving top finishes at dozens of regattas. One of the highlights was the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships, where USST members brought home a silver medal and six top-ten finishes. In addition, top performances by the team qualified the United States for spots at the 2008 Olympic Games in the following 10 classes: Finn, 470 Men and Women, 49er, Laser, Laser Radial, RS:X Men, Star, Tornado and Yngling.
For daily results, photos, profiles and behind-the-scene notebooks from US Sailing Team Members competing at the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta, please visit our website or the official regatta website. The 2008 Olympic Games are scheduled for August 8-24, 2008.
About the US SAILING Team
The US Sailing Team is managed by The United States Sailing Association (US SAILING), the national governing body of the sport. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization provides leadership for the sport of sailing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs for instructors and race officials, supports a wide range of sailing organizations and communities, issues offshore rating certificates, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across the country, including National Championships and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit our website.
Contact:
Marni Lane
Press Officer, US Sailing Teams
US SAILING
617.671.8332
401.683.0800 x671
MarniLane [at] ussailing.org
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