Nikole Barnes Recognized as College Women’s Sailor of the Year

San Diego, CA (May 27, 2016) – The Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year was announced during an awards presentation at the San Diego Port Pier after racing at the Sperry Women’s National Championship.

The finalists this year were Nikole Barnes (St. Thomas, VI), U.S. Coast Guard Academy ‘17 and Rachel Bryer (Jamestown, R.I.), University of Rhode Island ‘17. Both of these sailors have had an incredible year of competition and have been named All-Americans since their freshman years. This year’s Quantum Women’s Sailor of the year is Nikole Barnes.

Nikole Barnes with Quantum
representative George Szabo.

“Both women had excellent years and were top players for their teams across multiple disciplines,” says Ian Burman, head coach for the U.S. Naval Academy and a member of the ICSA All-America committee. “While Bryer did a little more women’s sailing than Barnes did and scored a number of impressive wins, the choice was easy in the end. Barnes won every women’s regatta she competed in this year.”

Barnes is a junior this year studying management at Coast Guard.

“Living on an island there didn’t seem like anything better to do than go sailing,” explained Barnes. “This honor is surreal and I am still processing it. This is really an award for my team – there is no way that I could do what I have done without them.”

“She is a talented sailor and she is pushed hard in practice,” says her coach Brian Swingly. “Our B-division sailor, Dana Rohde, is just as fast and good and challenges Barnes everyday.”

“At our school people joke that sailing is not a sport and I feel like winning this award proves that it is a sport and we are good at what we do,” says Barnes. Barnes has aspirations to compete in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo in the 470 class.

The Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year title is awarded annually to an individual who has performed at the highest level of competition in district and national championships. The ICSA All-America committee evaluates with great detail all of the finalists’ results and calculates the winner.

Background: The Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s three spring national championships, Sperry Women’s National Semi-Final and Final Championship, LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship, and the Gill Coed Dinghy National Semi-Final and Final Championship will be held May 24-June 3, with schools racing Club and Collegiate FJs on San Diego Bay in San Diego, CA. The three events will be co-hosted by San Diego Yacht Club and the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference. Event details.

Source: ICSA