May 5, 2012
WEYMOUTH, United Kingdom - Former ODU All-American and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe and her team advanced to the finals of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team Qualifying Regatta, which takes place on Sunday at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in the United Kingdom.
With the two Semi-Final Rounds complete in the U.S. Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta, two teams advance to the Final Round, a first-to-six series. Tunnicliffe’s “Team Maclaren” with Molly Vandemoer and Debbie Capozzi will meet Sally Barkow’s team of Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham and Alana O’Reilly to decide who will represent the USA at the 2012 Olympic Games this summer.
Tunnicliffe’s team bested Stephanie Roble’s team of Maggie Shea and Darby Smith, in two straight races. Combined with four wins from Friday’s racing, Tunnicliffe heads into the final undefeated and looks to secure her second Olympic team berth.
“Team Roble did a fantastic job and they’ve come a long way,” said Tunnicliffe. “We’re excited to advance to the finals. We want to go to the Olympic Games. We wanted to win the Semis; we want to win the finals. It’s another step along the way. We’re psyched we got through it and now we have another six races to win.”
Going into the semi-finals, Tunnicliffe will face Barkow. To go against the world #3 team, Tunnicliffe shared the team’s preparation insight. “We’ve been training the past three and a half years for this regatta and the Olympic Games. This is another regatta along the way. We knew we had to face one of the American teams. We’ll keep sailing the way we’ve been sailing. The past couple of months we’ve been sailing quite well and executing quite well. We’ll see what happens on the water tomorrow.”
In the second Semi-Final match, held in the morning, Genny Tulloch, Alice Manard Leonard and Jenn Chamberlin came out with a 3-2 advantage from Friday’s matches against Sally Barkow’s team of Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham and Alana O’Reilly.
Tulloch won the first match, but then Barkow came back to win the next four races. “We feel really good,” said Barkow after racing. “It was an awesome series against Genny, they’re a really strong s team. We didn’t think it would be that tough at the beginning. It was really about a team effort with Dave (Perry) and the girls. We just kept plugging away with what we’ve been working at and it paid off.
The racing was close and exciting, with leads changing in every race. Compared to Friday’s racing, it appeared that Barkow’s team had adjusted slightly. “We changed our starting plan a little bit and we kept plugging away around the course,” said Barkow. “We also changed our jibing time downwind. That helped a lot.”
The Final match is a “first to win six matches” format. The US Sailing race committee will begin the round on Sunday. Racing is held on the Nothe Course, which is the approximate location for the Olympic Sailing Regatta.
The winner will represent USA at the 2012 Olympic Games. The Olympic Sailing Regatta will be held July 27 – August 12, 2012, in Weymouth and Portland, located on the southern coast of England, approximately 120 miles southwest of London.
Competing teams in order of ISAF ranking (April 18) with skipper (skipper hometown), crew, crew: #1 Anna Tunnicliffe (ODU, '05/Plantation, Fla.) with Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (ODU, '07 Bayport, N.Y.) #6 Sally Barkow (ODU, '02/Nashotah, Wis.), with Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham (Miami, Fla.) and Alana O'Reilly (Charleston, S.C.) #10 Genny Tulloch (Sausalito, CA) with Alice Manard Leonard (East Haven, Conn.) and Jenn Chamberlin (Washington, D.C.) #28 Stephanie Roble (ODU, `11/East Troy, Wis.) with Maggie Shea (Chicago, Ill.) and Darby Smith (Chicago, Ill.)
Daily racing recaps, results and photos will be on the event site: http://sailingteams.ussailing.org/Events/2012/WMRTrials.htm