Pictured: Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) will try to win her third Pan American Games medal on Saturday, July 18.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 17, 2015
Toronto, Canada – The field of medal race competitors was determined in each fleet on Friday (Day Six) at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games. The United States secured a place on the podium in the Snipe and 49erFX classes, and is in the hunt for more medals in five additional classes. Saturday, July 18 will see medal races held in the Laser, Laser Radial, 49erFX, and RS:X, while Sunday’s medal races will feature the Hobie 16, Lightning, Snipe and Sunfish.
Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) is in the final stages of her pursuit for a third career medal at the Pan American Games. After scores of 4,7 today, she will start Saturday’s Laser Radial medal race with a ten-point lead over Brazil in second and a fourteen point lead over Argentina in third. Railey noted that due to the light and challenging conditions the fleet has experienced all week, the centerpiece of her strategy has been to minimize tactical risk. “Earlier in the regatta I sailed more freely, but after I got a nice points cushion I’ve been more conservative,” said the London 2012 Olympian and World Champion. “I have some more work to do tomorrow, but I love medal races. Looking forward to it.”
In the Laser, Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.) added scores of 6,4 to his total today, which kept him in the hunt for all three podium positions. “I sailed pretty well, and though it wasn’t spectacular I made logical choices,” said the North American Champion. “I didn’t give up much today. We’ll see what the medal race brings.” Buckingham now sits in 4th overall, two points out of bronze medal position.
Pictured: Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and Kathleen Tocke (Buffalo, N.Y.) sailing their Snipe in Toronto with the iconic CN Tower looming in the distance.
In the Snipe, Augie Diaz (Miami, Fla.) and Kathleen Tocke (Buffalo, N.Y.) have guaranteed themselves at least a bronze medal, and have a chance at silver. “The game plan is no different tomorrow,” said Diaz. “We absolutely have to get a good start, and have good speed downwind. These races are won and lost downwind.” The veteran Snipe team will take home their second consecutive Pan Am Games medal after winning silver at the 2011 Games. Whether the 2015 medal will be silver or bronze will be determined during Sunday’s medal race.
The 49erFX Team of Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) has also locked up a medal, and will duel with the World Champion team of Martine Soffiati Grael and Kahena Kunze (Brazil) for the silver. “The points were on our mind all day today,” said Scutt. “We reevaluated the situation after each race. We’re looking forward to a great battle tomorrow.”
Pictured: Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif., left) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash., right), 49erFX class.
Hobie 16 Sailors Mark Modderman (Long Branch, N.J.) and Grace Modderman (Rumson, N.J.) secured yet another solid score on Day Six, finishing second in the lone multihull race held today on the inner harbor course. The family team has been at or close to the top of the standings all week in Toronto. “We are definitely excited to be in the medal race, and I think it’ll be a cool experience,” said Grace Modderman, the crew. “To have everyone watching from shore will be awesome. It’s nice to be in contention. We started sailing together two years ago, and have lots of previous experience racing against these other teams.” Mark Modderman said that sailing with his daughter as part of Team USA at Toronto 2015 had been a special experience. “There is no way we would have been able to do so well this week without what Grace has contributed. She has really stepped up and done an excellent job.”
Pictured: Mark Modderman (Long Branch, N.J.) and Grace Modderman (Rumson, N.J.), Hobie 16 Class.
In the Lightning, Justin Coplan (Nyack, N.Y.), Danielle Prior (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) and Caroline Patten (Barnegat Light, N.J.) are in medal contention, and said they felt excited to have reached this level of the sport. “We’ve been to two World Championships, and were the runner-up at the last one,”said Prior. “The Pan Am Games, though, is the next level of intensity, and that’s what we were looking for. Being able to race for a medal feels really good.”
In the RS:X Women, the US will be represented in the medal race by Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.), who recently finished 2nd in the Under-21 division at the 2015 RS:X European Championship, one of the world’s toughest board sailing events. Lepert is locked in a close battle for bronze with her Argentine and Peruvian competitors.
Connor Blouin (Tampa, Fla.) qualified for the medal race in the Sunfish after what he described as a light-air struggle all week. “Today I won the last race, which felt really good,” said Blouin. “As soon as the breeze finally came up today, for the first time all week, I said ‘Game on!’ and turned it around a bit. It’s great to earn a spot in the medal race.”
Pictured: Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.), RS:X Women.
Current Standings (Pending Protests): Full Results
- 1st, Paige Railey, USA, 42 points
- 2nd, Fernanda Coelho, Brazil, 52 points
- 3rd, Lucia Falasca, Argentina, 56 points
- 1st, Juan Maegli, Guatemala, 33 points
- 2nd, Robert Scheidt, Brazil, 37 points
- 3rd, Lee Parkhill, Canada, 41 points
- 4th, Charlie Buckingham, USA, 43 points
- 1st, Castillo/Van Blerk, Guatemala, 26 points
- 2nd, Modderman/Modderman, USA, 33 points
- 3rd, Figueroa/Ortega, Puerto Rico, 42 points
- 1st, Fracchia/Salerno/Conte, Argentina, 21 points
- 2nd, Coplan/Prior/Patten, USA, 31 points
- 3rd, Biekark/Ficker/Hackerott, Brazil, 33 points
- 1st, Travascio/Branz, Argentina, 21 points
- 2nd, Soffiati Grael/Kunze, Brazil, 35 points
- 3rd, Henken/Scutt, USA, 38 points
- 1st, Rios/Pacheco, Puerto Rico, 18 points
- 2nd, Soubie/Lipszyc, Argentina, 30 points
- 3rd, Diaz/Tocke, USA, 36 points
- 1st, Patricia Freitas, Brazil, 15 points
- 2nd, Demita Vega, Mexico, 20 points
- 3rd , Marion Lepert, USA, 44 points
- 1st, Luke Ramsay, Canada, 30 points
- 2nd Jonathan Mawyin, Ecuador, 38 points
- 3rd, Joao Hackerott, Brazil, 44 points
- 4th, Andres Sorucco, Chile, 45 points
- 5th, Conner Blouin, USA, 56 points
- 1st, Ricardo do Santos, Brazil, 19 points
- 2nd, David Teran, Mexico, 29 points
- 3rd, Mariano Reutemann, Argentina, 31 points
- 4th, Daniel Perez, Venezuela, 49 points
- 5th, Zac Plavsic, Canada, 52 points
- 6th, Carson Crain, USA, 70 points
Athletes must be American citizens to qualify for the US Pan American Sailing Team. Since sailing was included in the Pan American Games in 1955, the United States has won 78 medals in sailing: 33 gold, 27 silver and 18 bronze.
Event Reports:
- Day 5: Buckingham Strikes Back
- Day 4: Railey Fends Off Challengers
- Day 3: USA Takes the Lead in Laser and Radial
- Day 2: Three More Race wins for USA
- Day 1: USA Leads Three Classes
- US Sailing Pan Am Games Preview
- US Sailing Announces Pan Am Games Team
Schedule:
- Saturday, July 11: Practices Races
- July 12-17: Qualifying Races
- July 18-19: Medal Races
- July 20: Reserve Day
ESPN Broadcast:
ESPN and ESPN Deportes will offer an Olympic-style TV production and complete multi-platform coverage of the 2015 Pan American Games from Toronto, starting Friday, July 10 at 7:30 p.m. ET with the Opening Ceremony live on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, and with replays available on ESPN3.
ESPN3 will carry 580 hours of Pan American Games programming, with live access to almost every competition in more than 15 different sports. While sailing will not be covered live, regatta updates will appear in event highlight reels during the broadcast.
Pan Am Games Media Guide:
About the Pan American Games
Held every four years in the year before the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games are the third largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games. The history of the Pan American Games dates back to 1951 when the Games were first hosted by Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 2015 Pan American Games mark the 17th celebration of the Pan American Sports Organization event. The U.S. has hosted the event twice, in Indianapolis in 1987 and Chicago in 1959.
About US Sailing
The United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the national governing body for sailing, provides leadership, integrity, and growth for the sport in the United States. Founded in 1897 and headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, US Sailing is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization. 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 US Sailing Team Sperry. For more information, please visit www.ussailing.org
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Press Contact: Will Ricketson, Olympic Communications Manager, US Sailing. willricketson@ussailing.org, +1 (978) 697-2384.