US sailors head for China

The US has officially announced their team for the 2007 Pre-Olympic Games in China

One year before the 2008 Olympic Games, 18 number one-ranked members of the US Sailing Team (USST) are gearing up to compete against the best sailors in the world at The Good Luck Beijing - 2007 Qingdao International Regatta. The second of two annual Olympic Test Events, the regatta will be held at the location of the 2008 Olympic Sailing Competition, the Qingdao International Marina in Qingdao, China.

“US Sailing is sending an exceptionally strong team to this year’s Olympic Test Event,” said US Sailing's Olympic Committee Chairman Dean Brenner, who will be the Team Leader in Qingdao. “I look forward to seeing where we are against the best in the world. This will be an excellent preview of our strengths and weaknesses.”

The following number one-ranked members of the USST were invited to compete in the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta:

Finn: Zach Railey
470 Men: Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and David Hughes
470 Women: Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler
49er: Morgan Larson and Pete Spaulding
Laser: Brad Funk
Laser Radial: Anna Tunnicliffe
RS:X Men: Benjamin Barger
RS:X Women: Nancy Rios
Star: John Dane and Austin Sperry
Tornado: John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree
Yngling: Sally Barkow, Carrie Howe and Debbie Capozzi

Joining the team in China are: Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman and Team Leader Dean Brenner; High Performance Director and Head Coach Gary Bodie; Coaches Luther Carpenter, Jay Glaser, Skip Whyte, Jay Glaser, Mark Reynolds, Kenneth Andreasen, Aaron McIntosh, Anthony Kotoun, Steve Erickson and James Lyne; Boatwright Donovan Brennan; Medical Staff Shawn Hunt and Mark Kenna; Nutritionist Lisa Dorfman; Weather Forecaster Jennifer Lilly; and U.S.-China Liaison Dr. David Pan.

The US Sailing Team has circled the globe this summer, winning medals and achieving top finishes at dozens of regattas. One of the highlights was the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships, where USST members brought home a silver medal and six top-ten finishes. In addition, top performances by the team qualified the United States for spots at the 2008 Olympic Games in the following ten classes: Finn, 470 Men and Women, 49er, Laser, Laser Radial, RS:X Men, Star, Tornado and Yngling.