America’s sailing athletes deserve better

A significant supporter for sailors with Olympic aspirations is Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay, NY. In this report from Executive Director Dawn Riley, she is seeking how the country can come together to do a better job for America’s sailing athletes:

The US Olympic Sailing Program is a relatively small part of what US Sailing does, but it is the most high-profile department, and it has been in disarray for over a decade. There are many organizations, clubs, individuals and athletes, working towards Olympic success but not always in parallel with each other.

The more everyone works in the same direction, the better for our athletes and the higher the likelihood of a positive outcome, medals.

Last fall, a cross-country and cross-genre group came together to try to identify a collaborative path forward. The results are in two documents and are offered by Oakcliff for the collective good:

• The Summit Results Narrative is a qualitative narrative of the discussions amongst the organizations, and most importantly amongst athletes: click here.

• The Summit Survey Compiled Spreadsheet lists every part of an Olympic organization. Participating organizations were asked to identify what they do well (green), what they don’t, can’t or have no interest in doing (red) and what is up for discussion (yellow). It is a graphic representation of where there are holes, overlaps and opportunities: click here

Oakcliff is sharing the information in an effort to pull together the country, and much like the Oakcliff Olympic Helix does for athletes and parents, provide a roadmap of how we can push for success.

Bottom line: America’s sailing athletes deserve better. This is what leadership looks like. We are running out of time.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Program*:
Men’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 7 (41)
Women’s One Person Dinghy – ILCA 6 (41)
Mixed Two Person Dinghy – 470 (19)
Men’s Skiff – 49er (20)
Women’s Skiff – 49erFX (20)
Men’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class (20)
Women’s Kiteboard – Formula Kite Class (20)
Men’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL (24)
Women’s Windsurfing – iQFOiL (24)
Mixed Multihull – Nacra 17 (19)
* Quota per event in parenthesis but does not include Universality Places (2 men, 2 women)

Venue: Marseille, France
Dates: July 28-August 9

Details:
• Paris website: https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-olympic-games-paris-2024/
• World Sailing microsite: https://paris2024.sailing.org/