SAILORS NAMED TO 2015 US SAILING TEAM AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM

42 Olympic and Paralympic class athletes were selected to the 2015 US Sailing Team Sperry, 18 months ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

In the men’s Laser, Charlie Buckingham has seen his international results steadily improve since starting his full-time Olympic campaign in 2011. The two-time ICSA College Sailor of the Year was 7th overall at the ISAF Worlds in Santander, and earned a spot at the ISAF World Cup Final in 2014.With 18 months 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.”

2015 US Sailing Team Sperry Roster

2.4mR (Paralympic One-Person Keelboat)

John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wisc.)

Charles Rosenfield (Woodstock, Ct.)

Men’s 470

Stuart McNay (Providence, R.I.) and David Hughes (Miami, Fla.)

Jordan Factor (Burlington, V.T.) and Matthew Wefer (Glen Head, N.Y.)

USSDT: Russell Clarida (Southport, C.T.) and Ian Robinson (Miami, Fla.)

Women’s 470

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.)

49er

Brad Funk (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Trevor Burd (Marblehead, Mass.)

David Liebenberg (Livermore, Calif.) and Daniel Morris (San Francisco, Calif.)

USSDT: Fred Strammer (Nokomis, Fla.) and Michael Kuschner (Gloucester Pt., Va.)

49erFX

Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.)

Debbie Capozzi (Blue Point, N.Y.) and Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.)

USSDT: Emily Dellenbaugh (Easton, Conn.) and Elizabeth Barry (Riverside, Conn.)

Finn

Caleb Paine (San Diego, Calif.)

Philip Toth (Los Angeles, Calif.)

USSDT: Luke Muller (Ft. Pierce, Fla.)

Laser

Charlie Buckingham (Newport Beach, Calif.)

Chris Barnard (Newport Beach, Calif.)

USSDT: Erik Bowers (Excelsior, Minn.)

Laser Radial

Erika Reineke (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)

Paige Railey (Clearwater, Fla.)

USSDT: Haddon Hughes (Houston, Texas)

Nacra 17

Michael Easton (Bedford, Mass.) and Katie Pettibone (Port Huron, Mich.)

Sarah Newberry (Miami, Fla.) and Matthew Whitehead (Panama City, Fla.)

USSDT: Jeremy Wilmot (Newport, R.I.) and Louisa Chafee (Warwick, R.I.)

Men’s RS:X

Carson Crain (Houston, Texas)

Raul Lopez (Miami, Fla.)

USSDT: Ben Barger (Tampa, Fla.)

Women’s RS:X

Farrah Hall (Annapolis, Md.)

Marion Lepert (Belmont, Calif.)

USSDT: Solvig Sayre (Vineyard Haven, Mass.)

SKUD-18 (Paralympic Two-Person Keelboat)

Sarah Everhart-Skeels (Tiverton, R.I.) and Cindy Walker (Plymouth, Mass.)

Ryan Porteous (Pacific Beach, Calif.) and Maureen McKinnon (Marblehead, Mass.)

Sonar (Paralympic Three-Person Keelboat)

Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), Brad Kendell (Tampa, Fla.) and Hugh Freund (South Freeport, Maine)

Andrew Fisher (Greenwich, Conn.), Daniel Evans (Miami, Fla.) and Tom Brown (Castine, Maine)

TAGS:

 

Men's 470 sailors Jordan Factor and Matthew Wefer.

 

Erika Reineke has emerged as a formidable competitor in the Laser Radial. Reineke had a strong year in 2014 with a 6th place showing at the Rio Olympic Test Event and was the top American at the World Championships. The Laser Radial youth world champion and three-time collegiate national champion looks to continue building momentum in 2015.

 

In the Paralympic classes, the US Sailing Team Sperry enjoys significant depth in both talent and experience. In the Sonar, disabled world champion Rick Doerr, and crew Hugh Freund, and Brad Kendell took silver at the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella, and are capable of winning any international event they enter.

 

Men's 49er sailors Brad Funk and Trevor Burd.

 

Annie Haeger and crew Briana Provancha have proven themselves to be among the world’s fastest after consistently challenging for podium spots at major events in the women's 470. 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.