Argentina have announced the sailors who will compete in the five classes they qualified sailors for at the Perth 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships.
With eleven Olympic Games between the sailors selected in the five classes the Argentineans are set to send a strong team to the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition.
Juan de la Fuente is the only Olympic medallist in the team and he is set to crew with Olympic newcomer
Lucas Calabrese. De La Fuente won Men's 470 bronze at Sydney 2000 and after a 13th place finish at Athens 2004 and a tenth at Beijing 2008 he is looking to recapture the form that led him to the Olympic podium 12 years prior.
Calabrese and De La Fuente finished 20th at the 2011 ISAF Worlds and are currently ranked World #9 in the Men's 470 rankings.
Joining them will be
Julio Alsogaray, who finished seventh at Beijing 2008, in the Laser. Alsogaray finished 18th at Perth 2011 and will want to recapture his form from 2008.
Mariano Reutemann will be competing at his third Olympic Sailing Competition following a 15th at Athens 2004 and a 21st at Beijing 2008. His preparations for London are well on track after he finished fourth at US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR, the second of seven ISAF Sailing World Cup Regattas, in January.
In the Laser Radial,
Cecilia Carranza Saroli is all set for her second Olympic Games. The current World #39 recently won the Central and South American Laser Radial Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina which puts her in good form before the Argentinean team head to Europe to prepare for London 2012.
And in the Women's 470
Maria Fernanda Sesto and
Consuelo Monsegur will line up for their second Olympic Games together following their 16th place finish in 2008. Fernanda Sesto also sailed at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004.
With the first wave of Argentinean selection done, Alejandro Cloos, Sailing Director at the Argentinean Sailing Federation, will be sending sailors to the Star, 49er and Women's RS:X World Championship to attempt to qualify for the few remaining Olympic Sailing spots.
But on the preparations of the whole squad Cloos said, "We picked up Olympic medals in the last four Olympic Games, and our expectations at London 2012 is to get at least one medal and some diplomas, which is a top eight finish."
Like many of the teams the Argentineans are using the ISAF Sailing World Cup circuit to prepare for London 2012, Cloos added,
"As part of our preparation and evaluation of our plan, we expect to participate in many of the World Cup Regattas as well as training sessions in Weymouth.
"At the World Cup series we will put special attention on our sailors that we know will be competing at London 2012 as a way to evaluate our process of training.
"We also cooperate and plan with sailors from other countries for a common benefit."
