Sept. 18, 2008
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Anna Tunnicliffe-Funk, ODU's first sailing gold medalist, took to the water stateside for the first time since Beijing and won another championship, the U.S. Women's Match Racing Championship. Sailing with current ODU Assistant Coach Liz Bower and with former collegiate opponents Molly O'Bryan and Ali Sharp, the ODU alum won one of U.S. Sailing's national championships against an extremely tough fleet of female sailors.
Bower has sailed with her former teammate Tunnicliffe-Funk in the match racing circuit since graduating at ODU in 2003. Tunnicliffe-Funk is ranked the world's number one in singlehanded sailing and with the win this weekend continues to prove she is a dominant sailor in many different forms of sailboat racing.
It was the second win of the Match Racing Championship for Tunnicliffe, the first as skipper, winning as a part of former Lady Monarch Sally Barkow's team in 2005. ODU alumna Debbie Capozzi also skippered a boat in the event, sailing to a fifth place finish.
For the complete release by US Sailing, click here.