470 SAILORS CONFIRMED TO US SAILING TEAM SPERRY AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM
24 Mar 2015With 500 days remaining until the start of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, US Sailing, the national governing body for the sport, has named 42 Olympic and Paralympic class athletes to the 2015 US Sailing Team Sperry.
The US national sailing team is selected annually and is comprised of the top sailors competing in the events selected for Rio 2016. Olympic class athletes qualified for the team at the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander, Spain, and at ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella, in January 2015. Paralympic class athletes qualified in Miami as well. Through the US Sailing Team Sperry and its sponsors, athletes on the Olympic and Paralympic path receive financial, logistical, coaching, technical, fitness, marketing and communications support.
“As we enter the third year in the Rio 2016 Olympic quad, the focus of our team on performing in Rio continues to intensify,” said Josh Adams, Managing Director of US Olympic Sailing. “The athletes named to the US Sailing Team Sperry have worked hard to earn a place in the program, and we will do everything we can to support their podium ambitions. We are fortunate to operate this team at a high level thanks to the unyielding support of Sperry, our title sponsor, Gold Sponsor Sunbrella, Silver partners Harken, McLube and Groupe Beneteau, team supplier Yale Cordage, sponsors Chubb Insurance and the Gowrie Group, and finally our immensely supportive Olympic Medalist donors.”
Fifteen athletes have also been named to the 2015 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), the pathway team supported by the U.S. Olympic Sailing Program and US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC). The USSDT was created in 2007 to help athletes who have been identified as Olympic prospects launch successful campaigns and compete at the Olympic level.
“Supporting sailors on the Olympic pathway is a major focus of our program,” said Adams. “Our talent pipeline continues to improve as sailors graduate out of high-performance youth classes, and we are excited to see improving depth in our Olympic classes.”
Sailors were selected for the USSDT by competing in the Olympic Class events at the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella. Additional members of the USSDT will be named at the US Youth Sailing Championship (July 6-10, 2015), and will include the sailors who have qualified for US Sailing’s ISAF Youth World Championship Team.
470 sailors are announced as:
Men’s 470 (Men’s Two-Person Dinghy):
- Stuart McNay (Providence, R.I.) and David Hughes (Miami, Fla.)
- Jordan Factor (Burlington, Vt.) and Matthew Wefer (Glen Head, N.Y.)
- USSDT: Russell Clarida (Southport, Ct.) and Ian Robinson (Miami, Fla.)
The veteran men’s 470 team of Stu McNay and David Hughes (San Diego, Calif.) have had continuous success since pairing up in 2013. The past year of racing saw McNay and Hughes make the medal race at each major international 470 regatta, and take home four medals, including bronze at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi. Their 5th place finish at the ISAF Worlds in Santander was the best result by a US men’s 470 team in 14 years.
Women’s 470 (Women’s Two-Person Dinghy):
- Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.)
- Sydney Bolger (Long Beach, Calif.) and Carly Shevitz (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
- USSDT: Alexia Fischer (Seattle, Wash.) and Georgia Lomax (Seattle, Wash.)
In the Women’s 470, Annie Haeger (East Troy, Wisc.) and crew Briana Provancha (San Diego, Calif.) have proven themselves to be among the world’s fastest after consistently challenging for podium spots at major events. The pair’s highlights to date include medaling at ISAF Sailing World Cup events in Spain, France and the US, and finishing 7th at last year’s Worlds.
Click Here to view the complete list of Olympic and Paralympic Sailors.
US Sailing Team Sperry Social Media:
Source: US Sailing
