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For
Immediate Release
Contact: Howard Thomas, Press Officer onsite: +30 693-669-8251; or Jan
Harley, Media Pro, 401.849.0220
USA’s Sailors Start Strong at Paralympic
Regatta
 ATHENS,
Greece – (September 18, 2004) U.S. sailors got off to a fast start at
the Paralympic Regatta as both the 2.4 Metre and Sonar sailors jumped to
second place positions in their respective overall standings following
the first two races of the series that began
today at the Agios Kosmas Sailing Centre.
The Sonar team of John Ross-Duggan (Newport Beach, Calif.), Brad Johnson
(Milwaukee, Wis./Hollywood, Fla.) and J.P. Creignou (St. Petersburg,
Fla.) grabbed second place in the overall standings on finishes of 3-2,
while Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine) sailed to second overall in
the 2.4 Metre fleet with finishes of 4-2, on a windy day on the Saronic
Gulf.
"We finished better than we thought we would today," said Ross-Duggan on
a day when the predominant winds blew over 20 knots. "But the fact that
we are doing well in the heavy stuff is going to be wonderful for us,
because in the light to moderate (winds) we are very competitive."
In the first race of the day, Australia narrowly edged out the USA at
the finish line to place second. The USA came back to take the runner-up
spot in the second race with a comfortable margin over third-place
finisher Norway.
"It turned out to be a decent day," said Johnson. "We didn't have a
great start but we kept fighting back. That's what it was all about
today… fighting back and making sure we maintained."
Israel won both races to take the early lead in the overall standings,
followed by the USA with five points and Norway with eight.
"They're very aggressive and very sharp sailors," said Ross-Duggan of
the Israelis. "They'll continue to be a factor throughout the regatta,
but so will some of the others. We've still got a long way to go."
The heavy winds caused a brief delay to the start of racing for the 2.4
Metre fleet, but Brown made the most of the windy conditions once the
competition got underway.
"I felt pretty good about my speed," said Brown, the 2000 2.4 Metre
Paralympic bronze medallist. "But I made a big mistake in the first
race. Instead of going out to the front I should have just stayed with
the guys I had behind me. There was shift and those other two (Heiko
Kroeger of Germany and Thierry Schmitter of The Netherlands) got ahead
of me. In the second race I didn't let that happen."
Damien Seguin of France leads the competition with a pair of first place
finishes and two points. Brown holds second overall, followed by
Kroeger and Schmitter; all three are tied on points with six apiece.
"I feel pretty good right now," said Brown. "It's a long series. The
winds are going to change, but I think we're looking pretty good right
now. "You don't want to be too far ahead too early," he joked with a
sly smile. "You've got to wait until the end."
Racing continues on Sunday with races three and four in both classes.
For more information,
visit
http://www.ussailing.org/Olympics/OlympicGames/2004/
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