Charlotte Rose: LA 2028 starts now

The US Olympic Sailing Program had two sets of domestic trials to select representatives in seven of the ten events for Paris 2024 Olympics. While there were favorites in the first set, the second set for the Men’s and Women’s One Person Dinghy was less certain.

The women’s event pitted long-time campaigner Erika Reineke against newcomer Charlotte Rose who had recently placed second at the 2024 ILCA 6 Women’s World Championship. As the Trials progressed, Rose looked strong but Reineke prevailed, with Rose reflecting on this experience in this report:

It’s been a week since the Olympic Trials and to have it slip through your fingers is a pain that will sit with me for the rest of my career. One too many little mistakes have cost me heavily and I will keep replaying those mistakes over and over again.

But those mistakes will never define who I am and the kind of sailor I am. And this regatta will not define this either. Sailing will always have my heart and this set back will only make me stronger.

I want to thank all the competitors for coming out and representing the USA and sailing each and every one of y’all hearts out. We have a such a large stage of competitive athletes that are the future of our sport. I want to thank the race committee for putting on this event and taking the time out of your busy lives to support our dreams of going to the Olympics.

I want to thank my family for being my absolute biggest support system throughout this entire event and throughout these past two years. Every day when I came home, good or bad, they always had a hug to give and a smile on their face.

I want to thank Alex Saldanha and Leandro Spina for everything, and for giving me the best advice and support I can ask for. This was a setback but this team always bounces back. I want to thank US Sailing Team and America One Racing for always believing in me and always pushing me to become a better version of myself, and striving to push the envelope on and off the water.

Most of all I want to thank my teammate, my best friend, my sister from another mister, Christina Sakellaris, for being by my side throughout this campaign. Life would be boring without you and traveling to beautiful places with me makes it all the worthwhile. I love you; you are an absolute badass, and I will forever be grateful to have you as a friend.

Thank again to my sponsors for believing in me and for your ongoing support. My dreams wouldn’t be possible without all of you. And lastly, I want to thank, everyone for their heartfelt messages this past week. This set back and these pains will be temporary. These lessons just mean we go back to the drawing board, reevaluate, rewrite, and start again. And I won’t just be back, I’ll be better. LA 2028 starts now.

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/