May 7, 2012
WEYMOUTH, United Kingdom - Former ODU All-American and 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Anna Tunnicliffe is heading back to the Olympics to defend her title at the 2012 London Summer Games after her team won the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team Qualifying Regatta on Monday at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in the United Kingdom.
In a thrilling conclusion to four days of women’s match racing, Anna Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) and her Team Maclaren crew Molly Vandemoer (Stanford, Calif.) and Debbie Capozzi (Bayport, N.Y.) won the 2012 US Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta by defeating Sally Barkow (Nashotah, WI) and her Team 7 Match Race crew Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham (Miami, Fla.) and Alana O’Reilly (Charleston, S.C.). Tunnicliffe defeated Barkow in the “first-to-six-wins” final match-up, which was held in Weymouth and Portland, site of the 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta. With the win, Tunnicliffe, Vandemoer and Capozzi were selected for the 2012 US Olympic Team – Sailing, pending confirmation from the U.S. Olympic Committee.
“We knew it was going to be a good day going into it,” said Tunnicliffe moments after reaching the dock. “The weather wasn’t spectacular, but we were glad to be out there.”
Going into the final day, Tunnicliffe was up four wins to Barkow’s one. Off the bat, Barkow won the first two wins to bring the score near even. “Sally’s team started the day really strong and came out with two wins,” said Tunnicliffe.
The second race of the day saw Barkow get a penalty off the start. Tunnicliffe led around the two-lap course, until the last third of the downwind run. Barkow rolled over top of Tunnicliffe and incurred a second penalty. Quickly, they forced an offsetting penalty on Tunnicliffe and almost instantly cleared their remaining penalty. They crossed the line ahead to win and bring the finals to a 4-2 scoreline.
“To be honest, it all happened so fast,” said Tunnicliffe of the maneuvers. “I made a massive mistake and it cost us. We had that race in the bag. I got a little excited and tried to go for the finish, rather than just waiting. She did a really good job teeing us up, and sailing circles around us and getting rid of two penalties. I tried to jump her too soon on the line. I should have waited for her to get into a bad position for us to make our move. We had to dig deep and overcome her momentum.”
They went on to win race three convincingly, getting a strong start and worked hard to keep a lead throughout. “We had a really solid race in race three,” she continued. “Which got us back on track for the last race. At times we had a two-length lead, and she (Barkow) closed it up to a quarter-length lead. Coming into the last run it was all about keeping our breeze clear on the one jibe, coming into the mark. Unfortunately, I jibed into bad air and collapsed the kite. We were able to drift across the line ahead to take the victory.”
Vandemoer will be a first-time Olympian. “It’s awesome,” she said. “It’s reassuring to know that if you work hard and you keep focused it’s going to pay off in the end. We still have a lot to do.”
Capozzi is a 2008 Olympian who sailed in the Women’s Keelboat (Yngling) with Barkow. The experience she brought from that campaign was an advantage for this team. “I think from the beginning I had some ideas, but we have to all accept them and choose if we want to use them or not,” she said. “We took a couple of those ideas and then just molded it to what we like. We changed it here and there, but it’s valuable to have all that experience on a three-person team.”
Her wisdom from Qingdao will be an advantage as they make their way to the 2012 Games. “We are going to keep doing the same thing we’re doing every day,” she said. “Outwork our competitors, train hard, have good conversation with our coach Dave Dellenbaugh, and have fun really. We’re not going to change much; we’re going to keep going.”
Giving full credit to their coach Dave Dellenbaugh, Tunnicliffe said: “He’s our rock. He kept the information going regardless of what the score was, regardless of what race we were in. Same info, same critiques. He never overanalyzed anything. We’re super psyched he’s here and that we get to take him to the Games.”
Four teams advanced to the 2012 US Olympic Qualifying Regatta from the 2011 event: #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.)
“The US Olympic Trials is the hardest regatta to do in the world,” said Tunnicliffe. “Our teaml, Team Tulloch and Team Barkow are three of the top 10 world teams. Coming into the Games, we’re knew that whichever team won here is going to the Olympics and is going to win gold. The other teams are training
You have to put that extra bit of training it. It pushed us to the level we’re at and to keep training.”
For Barkow, the day was bittersweet. She had come so far from a disappointing 2008 Games to the finals to represent USA in 2012. “It was a tough battle,” said Barkow moments after arriving at the dock. “We knew we had the talent and the ability to do it. It didn’t go our way a few times. You feel pretty down after a situation like this. You work really hard for a long time and have a really great team. When you don’t win the last one it’s a bummer.
“It was a year and a half ago that we committed to sailing full time. Last October, it was committing again to more full time and leaving other things in our lives off the table. We’ve learned the game to a really high level. We worked on our strengths and weaknesses.”
“I’m really proud of the effort that all of our women’s match racing teams and coaches put in over the past several years,” said Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.), Chairman of the Olympic Sailing Committee. “Every one of them has a great deal to be proud of; even the teams that didn’t win have lots to be proud of. Our program worked together to build the best national match racing program in the world. We all congratulate Anna, Molly, Debbie and Dave Dellenbaugh. We also congratulate Team Barkow, Team Tulloch and Teamm Roble for a world-class performance.”
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.