Esteban Forrer began sailing at the age of six over the summer, something to do with his older brother to keep him busy. Forrer’s ability continued to soar and took him from Tucson, Arizona to San Diego, California for his final three years of high school. After four stellar years at Old Dominion, Forrer will see his career come full circle at the national championships in San Diego.
Forrer’s sailing odyssey began at the age of six when his parents sent him to a summer sailing camp in San Diego.
“The summer programs ran from late May, June and July through August and throughout the year there would be certain events on the weekend. I would go to school in Tucson and there would be an event in Newport Beach or San Diego, and we would fly out and compete,” Forrer said. “I started to do serious events when I was around 10, and started to travel further when I was 13 and then on the international scale shortly after that.
Traveling around the country fit what Forrer wanted to do with his sailing career, but the time away from home did have its drawbacks.
“School was a pretty big issue, especially when I got to be around 13-15 years old, a lot of the competitions I was doing were international, and for long periods of time. I went to Brazil when I was 15 and we missed two weeks of school for training and competition. It was difficult but fun,” Forrer added.
Forrer had to prepare for races a little differently than most of the sailors he was competing against. Growing up in Tucson, he could only practice on sailing for four months out of the year. It forced him to compete a little differently than his opponents.
“The only way I could do the sport was to have the mentality that my competitions are essentially my practice. By doing as many competitions as I could it gave me more time on the water and that’s how I started to get to a more competitive level,” Forrer said.
Things changed for Forrer following his freshman year of high school in Tucson. His brother, Juan, had just graduated from college, so he and his parents decided in the best interests of his sailing career, Esteban and his mother, Victoria Lasala, moved to San Diego for the final three years of high school.
“It was tough to move, I got to see my dad, Scott Forrer, about once every two weeks when he would come out and visit us. It was definitely tough but I kind of got used to it,” Forrer said. “I was leaving a lot of friends and things in Arizona. I lived there for 15 years, it was kind of like going to college early. It was exciting but also challenging.”
When it came down to picking a college, Forrer had several schools to choose from, but ultimately chose one with a solid program and a chance to compete right away. That has worked out for Forrer, as he is a three-time all-conference honoree and two-time All-American.
“The thing that appealed to me about ODU was being able to know that when I get here I was going to be able to sail right away for their top team,” Forrer mentioned. “My time at ODU has been a lot of fun. I don’t regret any decisions I’ve made. Being able to compete for such a good team and coaches, a program that helps the team so much, I’m very prideful of it.
With the national championships coming up in San Diego, Forrer and partner Gabriel Smith have worked well together the last two years to get ready for this stage.
“Gabe and I started sailing on and off my sophomore year, and last year we were together full-time and that has continued this season. Sailing is a sport where you have to sail with the same person and work together and cooperate with that person,” Forrer said. “We know each others in and outs and that has been key to our success.”
If competing in the national championships wasn’t exciting enough for Forrer, his sailing career is making a full circle this week, as the championships are in San Diego.
“It’s going to be awesome but a little bittersweet too, finishing off my collegiate career back where it started,” Forrer said. “I have a lot of friends, about 8-10 of us from San Diego, that are graduating this year that will be competing at nationals, so it’s kind of cool for our last hurrah back home.