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Contact: Marni Lane
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US SAILING TEAM MEMBERS HEAD TO CHINA

FOR FIRST OLYMPIC TEST EVENT

Portsmouth, R.I. (August 9, 2006) — Exactly two years before the 2008 Olympic Games, thirty-four

top-ranked members of the US Sailing Team (USST) will get a taste of Olympic competition at

The Good Luck Beijing - 2006 Qingdao International Regatta, held from August 18-31. Ranked a Grade 2

event by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the 2006 Qingdao International Regatta is expected

to draw more than 466 sailors and 302 boats from 41 countries and regions.

The first of two annual Olympic Test Events, the regatta will be held at the Qingdao International Marina

in Qingdao, a coastal city located 430 miles east of Beijing.

“This event is a phenomenal opportunity to visit the venue and continue to prepare for the 2008 Games,”

said US SAILING’s Olympic Committee Chairman Dean Brenner, who will accompany the team to Qingdao.

“It’s also a great opportunity for our best athletes to gauge themselves against the best Olympic                        competition in the world.”

The nine classes selected for the 2008 Olympic Games are: Finn (men); 470 (men and women); Laser

(men); Laser Radial (women); Neil Pryde RS:X (men and women); 49er, Star, Tornado (all open); and

Yngling (women).

The US Sailing Team members who will compete in the 2006 Qingdao International Regatta are:

Finn (Heavyweight Dinghy):
• Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
• Darrell Peck (Gresham, Ore.)

470 Men (Men's Two Person Dinghy):
• Mikee Anderson-Mitterling (Coronado, Calif.) and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.)
• Stuart McNay (Boston, Mass.) and Graham Biehl (San Diego, Calif.)

470 Women (Women's Two Person Dinghy):
• Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (Harvey Cedars, N.J.)
• Evan Brown and Caroline Young (Tampa, Fla.)

49er (Skiff):
• Dalton Bergan (Seattle, Wash.) and Zachary Maxam (Coronado, Calif.)

Laser (Men’s One Person Dinghy):
• Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif.)
• Brad Funk (Clearwater, Fla.)

Laser Radial (Women’s One Person Dinghy):
• Anna Tunnicliffe (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
• Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)
                                                                                                                                                                                  RS:X Men (Men's Windsurfer):
• Benjamin Barger (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
• Seth Besse (Guilford, Conn.)

RS:X Women (Women’s Windsurfer):
• Nancy Rios (Cocoa, Fla.)
• Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)

Tornado (Multihull):
• John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Kemah, Tex.)
• Robert Daniel (Clearwater, Fla.) and Enrique Rodriguez (Key Largo, Fla.)

Star (Men’s Keelboat):
• Andy Horton (Newport, R.I.) and Brad Nichol (Lake Sunapee, N.H..)
• George Szabo (San Diego, Calif.) and Eric Monroe (Corona Del Mar, Calif.)

Yngling (Women’s Keelboat):
• Sally Barkow (Chenequa, Wis.), Carrie Howe (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Deb Capozzi (Bayview, N.Y.)
• Carol Cronin (Jamestown, R.I.), Kim Couranz (Annapolis, Md.), and Margaret Podlich (Annapolis, Md.)

Joining the team in China are: Olympic Director and Team Leader Katie Kelly; Olympic Sailing Committee

Chairman Dean Brenner; High Performance Director and Head Coach Gary Bodie; Coaches Luther                       Carpenter, Jay Glaser, Skip Whyte, Mike Wolfs, Kaj Glinkiewicz and James Lyne; Boatwright Donovan                     Brennan; Medical Staff Shawn Hunt, Mark Kenna and Scott Weiss; Weather Forecaster Jennifer Lilly;                           and U.S.-China Liaison Dr. David Pan.

“Our athletes continue to work extremely hard toward the 2008 Games and they have the results to                            prove it,” said Brenner. “I am eager to see our athletes add to their long list of strong performances in                      2006.”

US Sailing Team members are continuing to rise in the world rankings by ISAF. Skipper George Szabo                         and crew Eric Monroe are ranked the number one Star team, while Paige Railey and Anna Tunnicliffe                           are ranked number one and two in the world, respectively, in the Laser Radial class.

The US Sailing Team has had an unprecedented number of athletes who have produced exceptional                         results in 2006, including podium finishes at the top three international regattas: US SAILING’s Rolex                          Miami Olympic Classes Regatta (OCR) in Miami, Fla., Kiel Week in Kiel, Germany and the Holland Regatta                        in Medemblik, The Netherlands.

For daily results, photos, profiles and diaries from US Sailing Team Members competing at the 2006                      Qingdao International Regatta, please visit www.ussailing.org/olympics/qingdao.htm. The 2008 Olympic                    Games are scheduled for August 8-24, 2008.

About the US Sailing Team
The US Sailing Team is managed by US SAILING, national governing body of the sport. Headquartered in   

Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US SAILING's mission is to encourage participation and promote excellence in                   sailing in the U.S. US SAILING offers training and education programs, supports a wide range of sailing             organizations and communities, and provides administration and oversight of competitive sailing across                         the country, including the US Sailing Teams and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams. For                         more information, please visit www.ussailing.org.

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