Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Selection confirmed in the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17

Following the Sailing World Cup Miami and the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships held in Clearwater, Florida, the U.S. Sailing Olympic Team have announced their selection for the three classes to represent the country at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Nacra 17

Bora Gulari (Detroit, Mich.) and Louisa Chafee (Warwick, R.I.) have won a place on the Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team competing in the two-person mixed multihull event.

Rio 2016 will be the first Olympic Games for both Gulari and Chafee. “I’m definitely excited, and proud to represent my country,” said Gulari, a two-time Moth World Champion and US Sailing Rolex Yachtsman of the Year. “I feel like the hard work has just begun. We’ve bought ourselves another six months of sailing together.”

Gulari noted that while he and Chafee were happy to be selected for Team USA, they felt that there is significant room for improvement in the lead up to the Games. “We had flashes of brilliance this week [at the Worlds], but we have to figure out how to do better. I’ve been full-on trying to figure out how to get faster, and learning [about] the boat. Now it’s time to learn a lot more. Louisa’s a great crew, and I need to figure out how to do things better.” Gulari started sailing the Nacra 17 multihull, a new class for this Olympic cycle, just over a year ago. Chafee has been in the class since 2014.

49er

Based on their combined scores from January’s Sailing World Cup Miami, Florida, and the Worlds in Clearwater, Florida, Beijing 2008 Olympian Thomas Barrows (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.) and teammate Joe Morris (Annapolis, Md.) have earned selection to Team USA.

The pair have been together longer than any other active U.S. 49er team, and have diligently worked their way up through the ranks over the past three years by training heavily in all weather conditions.

For Morris, Rio 2016 will be his first Olympic Games, and the realization of a lifelong dream. “Sixteen years,” said Morris when asked how long he’d been working towards this moment. “Since I was ten years old, and first figured out that sailing was in the Olympics.”

For Barrows, this will be a second shot at the Olympic podium, having represented the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Laser class in 2008, before starting to sail under the U.S. flag in the 49er. Barrows noted that he’s excited for another chance to race at this level. “I feel as though we’re in a really good position to get a good result [at the Games],” said Barrows. “The time I went before, it was mostly for the experience. I was still in college, and wasn’t truly focused on it. It’ll be nice to go and put the hammer down

49erFX

American sailors Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.) and Helena Scutt (Kirkland, Wash.) have won the U.S. Olympic Team Athlete Selection Series in the 49erFX, the women’s two-person high performance Olympic skiff. Rio 2016 will be the first Olympic Games appearance for both Henken (20) and Scutt (23), who won bronze at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

“It doesn’t feel real right now,” said Scutt, who graduated from Stanford University last year after serving as the varsity sailing team co-captain and being named an all-conference crew. “It’s going to take a while to sink in. Eight years ago I was learning how to sail. It’s pretty surreal for me, and I feel very lucky to get to sail with Paris. I know she has something special. I had a little feeling all along.”

Henken and Scutt have faced significant adversity during their journey towards U.S. Olympic Team selection, as a major accident in September 2013 nearly derailed their campaign. While competing at the 2013 49erFX Worlds, another boat collided with the Americans, and Scutt suffered a broken spine, two broken ribs and a lacerated a kidney. Nevertheless, after a successful recovery by Scutt, the pair returned to the racecourse in 2014 and have trained full-time as members of the national team, the US Sailing Team Sperry.