Jan. 12, 2010
WASHINGTON - The Georgetown University sailing team is off to a great start in 2010. Just two weeks into the year, the Hoyas have already taken first place at the Rose Bowl Regatta in Long Beach, Calif., and two members of the team have been named to the 2010 US Sailing Development Team.
Over the weekend of January 2-3, the Hoyas competed on Alamitos Bay in what proved to be a beautiful weekend in Long Beach, Calif. Besting the field of 26 teams, the Hoyas won their first ever Rose Bowl Regatta.
The Hoyas fielded a team that consisted of skippers Charlie Buckingham (a two-time coed All-American and the 2009 recipient of the Everett B. Morris Trophy, awarded to the College Sailor of the Year) and Chris Barnard with crews Ashley Phillips and All-American Sydney Bolger.
The Hoyas were familiar with the west coast conditions as Buckingham and Barnard were teammates at Newport Harbor High School while Bolger is originally from Long Beach. With the temperature in the mid 70s, the wind was very light, there were just give races per division. A young College of Charleston team proved to be the most competition for GU as the Hoyas held a slim lead going into the final day of racing.
In what proved to be the only A division race on Sunday, Buckingham and Phillips finished second while College of Charleston grabbed first place, putting the teams in a tie heading into the B division. Barnard, a freshman skipper, and Bolger, who was crewing for the first time, had the pressure on going into the last race but sailed an exceptional race and won while College of Charleston finished seventh, giving the Hoyas first place overall with 35 points. College of Charleston finished second with 42 points overall and Stanford in third (56 points).
Buckingham and Phillips took overall first place in the A division with 18 points while Barnard and Bolger finished second overall in the B division with 17 points - just one shy of first place.
In its 24th year, the Rose Bowl Regatta is one of the biggest west coast sailing events of the year with 26 collegiate teams and 54 high school teams racing in the event this year.
The Rose Bowl regatta, now in its 24th year is one of the biggest West Coast sailing events of the year. 26 College Teams and 54 High School teams raced in the event this year.
Just one week after this, Buckingham and Bolger were selected to the 2010 US Sailing Development Team (USSDT). The 48-member team is a new, youth pipeline team supported by US Sailing's Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC). The team was created to help young athletes, who have been identified as future Olympic prospects, acquire the skills necessary to launch successful campaigns and compete at the Olympic level.
Formerly known as the US Sailing Team-U18 and US Sailing Team-U23, the USSDT is comprised of talented, up-and-coming sailors, aged 13 years or older as of January 1, 2010, who have shown a strong work ethic, willingness to work within a team and promising results at international events and high-level domestic events.
