FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Marni Lane
617-671-8332
TEAM USA GUNS FOR GOLD IN THE QINGDAO TEST
EVENT’S MEDAL RACES
Portsmouth, R.I. (August 22, 2007) – The top-ranked members of the US Sailing
Team are battling for medals in the final two days of The Good Luck Beijing -
2007 Qingdao International Regatta in Qingdao, China, the second test event
before the 2008 Olympic Games. After a week plagued with little or no breeze,
the wind and waves came back with authority today on Fushan Bay, blowing 15 to
20 knots.
In the first of two days of double-point Medal Races, Morgan Larson (Capitola,
Calif.) and Pete Spaulding (Santa Cruz, Calif.) finished sixth in the 49er
class, pushing them into fourth out of 23 boats overall. In the 25-boat Finn
fleet, Zach Railey (Clearwater, Fla.) moved up to eighth place overall, after
finishing fifth in the Medal Race. Two U.S. teams finished 10th in today’s
races and 10th overall: Johnny Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree
(Kemah, Texas) in the 17-boat Tornado fleet and Amanda Clark (Shelter Island,
N.Y.) and Sarah Mergenthaler (Harvey Cedars, N.J.) in the 22-boat 470 Women
fleet.
Heading into Thursday’s Medal Races, Team USA is gunning for gold in the Laser
Radial and Yngling classes, where both U.S. boats are in first place. Anna
Tunnicliffe (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) has dominated the 30-boat Laser Radial
fleet all week, posting single digit scores after one discard, including four
bullets. Tunnicliffe currently holds an 11-point lead over New Zealand’s Jo
Aleh and is 30 points ahead of Croatia’s Tina Mihelic. In the Yngling class,
skipper Sally Barkow (Chenequa, Wisc.) and her crew, Debbie Capozzi (Bayport,
N.Y.) and Carrie Howe (Grosse Point, Mich.), has a one-point lead over their
ongoing rivals, the British team led by Sarah Ayton. Because the Medal Race
results count double, the pressure is on for tomorrow’s tight race.
“Team USA is on the hunt for gold, and the racing is exciting,” said Dean
Brenner, Team Leader of the 2007 Olympic Test Event and Chairman of the US
Olympic Sailing Program.
One year before the 2008 Olympic Games, The Good Luck Beijing - 2007 Qingdao
International Regatta provides sailors an opportunity to test the local
conditions and to see where they stand against the best in the world. The
event is held at the location of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, the
Qingdao International Marina in Qingdao, China, a coastal city located 430
miles east of Beijing.
For results, photos, profiles and behind-the-scene notebooks from US Sailing
Team Members competing at the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta, please visit:
www.ussailing.org/olympics/qingdao/qingdao.htm or the official regatta
site at
www.2007qdregatta.com. The 2008 Olympic Games are scheduled for August
8-24,
2008.
About the US Sailing Team
The US Sailing Team is managed by The United States Sailing Association (US
SAILING), the national governing body of the sport. Founded in 1897 and
headquartered in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, the organization provides
leadership for the sport of sailing in the U.S. 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 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic
Sailing Teams. For more information, please visit
www.ussailing.org.
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