Dana Rohde earns Sailor of the Year

Norfolk, VA (May 25, 2018) – The Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year and Women’s All-American and Honorable Mention were announced during an awards presentation at the Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Championship at the Old Dominion Sailing Center.

The Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year 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.

Quantum believes that women sailors should receive the same recognition that male sailors receive in the sport to acknowledge their excellence in sailing and continue to foster the growth of women’s sailing.

There was only one finalist this year, which shows how dominant this sailor was on the women’s circuit and how deserving she is, this year’s Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year is Dana Rohde (Richmond Hill, Ga.), U.S. Coast Guard Academy ’18.

Rohde had an incredible year of competition, winning eight women’s events and placing second in A-division in the 2018 Sperry College Sailing Women’s National Championship. She has also been named a Women’s All-American and honorable mention every year of her college sailing career.

“Her record definitely stands alone this year,” says Ian Burman, chair of the ICSA All-America Committee, of Rohde.

“This award honors the most elite in the sport and she is that,” says Brian Swingly, head coach for U.S. Coast Guard Academy. “I am proud and thrilled for her, she is an incredibly professional athlete and works hard everyday to make herself and teammates better. I cannot think of anyone more deserving.”

Rohde started sailing at age 6 in the Savannah, Ga. area. Her father is a sailor and graduated from U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point and managed to turn her mother into a sailor also. Rohde is not the first in her family to sail at Coast Guard, however, she has two older sisters, Devon Rohde ’15 and Krysta Rohde ’11, who paved the way.

“I never expected to win this,” says Rohde, “This year was about doing the best we could and that was my focus. This is the best way to end my women’s college sailing career. It will be a reminder of the great time I had sailing in college and the great friends I made.”

Rohde studied operations research and computer analysis while at the Academy and will be an ensign, assigned to Coast Guard Cutter Juniper as a deck watch officer in Newport, RI. She will be in the Coast Guard for the next five years. She has no certain plans for sailing other than continuing to do so in Newport next year and beyond.

The Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) also announced the 2017-18 Women’s All-America Team. The names of the winners will be added to the ICSA Hall of Fame displayed at the Robert Crown Center at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.

A committee of representatives from the seven conferences in the ICSA selects the ICSA All-America Team. This year’s committee is: Ian Burman (chair), MAISA; William Martin, MAISA; Geoff Pedrick, MCSA; David Thompson, NEISA; Michael Kalin, NEISA; John Vandemoer, PCCSC; Ward Cromwell, SAISA; Charles Higgins, SEISA; Scott Wilson, NWICSA.

To select an All-American skipper, the committee evaluates a competitor based on their competitive record in inter-conference competition as well as conference and national championships. The committee analyzes how this record compares to fellow competitors, the quality of the competition the record was achieved in, and results achieved competing with different crews, the span of the record over the fall and spring seasons, and how the record compares to previous All-American winners.

The committee selects up to 10 Women All-American skippers and additional Honorable Mentions, together totaling no more than 15. This year the committee selected 10 All-American skippers and five Honorable Mentions.

2018 Women’s All-Americans

ICSA Honorable Mention Women’s All-American Skippers:
Ragna Agerup (Oslo, Norway), Brown University ‘20
Audrey Giblin (Monmouth Beach, N.J.), Dartmouth College ‘20
Emily Haig (Beach Haven, N.J.), Massachusetts of Technology ‘21
Taylor Ladd (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.), Harvard University ‘18
Hannah Steadman (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Brown University ‘20

ICSA Women’s All-American Skippers:
Lindsey Baab (Saratoga, Calif.), Brown University ‘18
Bailey Carter (Winter Park, Fla.), Hobart & William Smith ‘19
Paris Henken (Coronado, Calif.), College of Charleston ‘19
Sarah Hermus (Bellport, NY), University of Rhode Island ‘18
Casey Klingler (Larchmont, N.Y.), Yale University ‘18
Isabella Loosbrock (Excelsior, Minn.), Boston College ‘19
Louisa Nordstrom (Sarasota, Fla.), Yale University ‘20
Sophia Reineke (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Boston College ‘21
Dana Rohde (Richmond Hill, Ga.), U.S. Coast Guard Academy ‘18
Alie Toppa (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), College of Charleston ‘20

Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year
Dana Rohde (Richmond Hill, Ga.), U.S. Coast Guard Academy ‘18

Background: The ICSA is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. There are seven Conferences that schedule and administer regattas within their established geographic regions, with ICSA hosting two national championships in the fall (singlehanded, match racing) and three national championships in the spring (team, women’s, coed). collegesailing.org

2018 Spring Nationals – Norfolk, VA
5/22-25 – Women’s National Championship
5/26-28 – Team Race National Championship
5/29-6/1 – Coed National Championship

Source: Jennifer Mitchell |Toile à Voile for ICSA