49erFXMaggie Shea

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Team Member

Maggie Shea grew up sailing with her family on Lake Michigan on her grandfather’s boat WINDANCER, and quickly fell in love with being on the water and competing. Maggie later joined Chicago Yacht Club’s junior sailing program and raced 420s and Laser Radials in high school. Maggie sailed at Connecticut College and served as a team captain, skipper, and crew, leading her team to a second-place finish at the 2011 ICSA Women’s Nationals and a fourth-place finish at the 2009 Women’s Singlehanded Nationals. Maggie was recognized as an All-American Honorable Mention, NEISA Sportswoman of the Year, and received the Connecticut College Brooks-Brown Award for outstanding leadership, scholarship, and sportsmanship. In her senior year, Maggie got a taste of the international sailing circuit when she geared up for the Laser Radial 2008 Olympic Trials. As her first time participating in the Olympic Trials, 2008 was a chance to build experience and to get a taste of the best competition in the country.

After graduation, Maggie dove into match racing. She joined forces with her former opponent, Stephanie Roble, to form Epic Racing—a professional match racing team. Together, they won a bronze medal at the 2014 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championships and won that year’s overall Women’s Match Racing series, with both sailors sharing the helm. Maggie additionally won both the U.S. Match Racing Championship twice and the U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship twice, crewing for four different skippers. Maggie worked as the Sailing Director at Chicago Match Race Center, her stepping stone into the professional sailing industry. In 2016, Maggie crewed for Sally Barkow on Team Magenta 32, the first-ever all-women’s team to compete on the World Match Racing Tour. Maggie was on board when the team finished third at the 2017 North American Championships. That year, she was named as a Finalist for US Sailing’s 2017 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year.

Maggie has been racing the 49erFX since 2013 with various teammates, but Stephanie and Maggie have been on the 49erFX campaign trail together since the fall of 2016.