US Olympic Team Trials Overall

WINNERS OF OLYMPIC TEAM TRIALS - DETERMINED ON SAN FRANCISCO BAY

Silvestri and Myrdal Join Dey and Reynolds/Liljedahl

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (April 17, 2000) - Cold, rainy, miserable conditions, were the order of the day for sailors competing in the final races of the Olympic Team Trials - Yachting on San Francisco Bay. From April 6-16, 2000, 113 competitors in four classes - Europe, Finn, Laser and Star - raced to become members of the USA's 2000 Olympic Team - Yachting. Only the winner in each class earns the coveted slot, and it came down to the final day for Finn sailor Russ Silvestri (Tiburon, Calif.), and Laser sailor John Myrdal (Kailua, Hawaii). Europe sailor Courtenay Becker Dey (The Dalles, Ore./Rye, N.Y.) and the Star team of Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and Magnus Liljedahl (Miami, Fla.) were assured their places on the Team when they proved mathematically unbeatable at the conclusion of racing on Saturday.

FINN:

'99 Finn National Champion and Pan Am Games Silver Medalist Russ Silvestri (Tiburon, Calif.), led the 26-boat Finn class throughout their 15-race series. Dropping his two worst finishes, a fifth and a fourth, Silvestri's 25-point overall score gave him a four-point edge over second-place finisher Mark Herrmann (Bothell, Wash.). For Silvestri, who has competed in four previous Olympic Team Trials, and was on the '88 Olympic Team as an alternate, one hurdle still remains in his quest to win an Olympic medal. In all Olympic events, berths to Sydney must be qualified by each nation through their placing at the world championships. The U.S.A. has one remaining chance, the upcoming Finn Gold Cup (June 3-11 in Weymouth, England), to qualify for the Games by finishing as one of the first eight countries not previously qualified. (16 countries have qualified through the '98 and '99 Finn Gold Cups. Of the 28 Finn berths available for the Games, Australia receives an automatic slot as Olympic host. Three slots will be determined by ISAF -- the International Sailing Federation.)

Finishing third through fifth place in the Finn Trials is '98 Finn National Champion Darrell Peck (Gresham, Ore.), 38 points; Mike Deyett (Windham, N.H.), 47 points; and '94 Goodwill Games Finn Silver Medalist Eric Oetgen (Savannah, Ga.) with 51 points.

LASER:

While qualifying the U.S.A.'s berth to Sydney doesn't guarantee a sailor his slot to the Games, as ICYRA All-American John Myrdal (Kailua, Hawaii) did at the '98 ISAF World Sailing Championships (Dubai, U.A.E.), winning the Olympic Team Trials does. Myrdal successfully fought off '99 Pan Am Games Laser Silver Medalist Mark Mendelblatt (St. Petersburg, Fla.) posting a final score of 38 points to Mendelblatt's 42. Following in third through fifth places in the 32-boat Laser fleet, are ICYRA All-American Brett Davis (Largo, Fla.) with 57 points; Peter Hurley (Mantoloking, N.J.) with 57.1; and '98 College Sailor of the Year Bill Hardesty (San Diego, Calif.) with 70 points.

EUROPE:

"It still hasn't sunk in," said '96 Europe Olympic Bronze Medalist Courtenay Becker Dey (The Dalles, Ore./Rye, N.Y.) acknowledging the win of her second Olympic Team Trials. Dey was able to sit out the final day of racing conducted by San Francisco Yacht Club for the Europe fleet after "Jimmy (her husband and biggest supporter) did the math 15 times," to confirm that she could throw out the points from a DNS (did not start) in the final two races and still win. On the racecourse Sunday Meg Gaillard (Pelham, N.Y.) posted bullets in both races bringing her within one point of Dey. Following in third through fifth is Amanda Clark (Shelter Island, N.Y.) with 53; Krysia Pohl (San Francisco, Calif.) with 59; and '94 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year Danielle Brennan Myrdal (New York, N.Y.) with 64 points overall.

STAR:

Having secured a consensus agreement from the Star competitors, St. Francis Yacht Club race officials declared that series completed at 14 races. Mathematically unbeatable, Mark Reynolds (San Diego, Calif.) and Magnus Liljedahl (Miami, Fla.) stand first with 15 points overall, eliciting the comment of an observer that "Mark and Magnus had a spectacular regatta." Reynolds, well respected as the "Star of the Stars," makes U.S. Star-class history with his fourth Olympic Team Trials win. With former teammate Hal Haenel (Los Angeles, Calif.), Reynolds won Olympic silver in '88 and Olympic gold in '92, finishing a disappointing 8th out of 25 boats at the '96 Olympic Regatta.

'86 Star World Champion Vince Brun and Mike Dorgan (both San Diego, Calif.) were second with 38 points, followed by George Szabo and Rick Peters (San Diego/El Segundo, Calif.) with 49. Placing fourth are '93 Star World Champion Joe Londrigan and Mark Strube (San Diego, Calif./Miami, Fla.) with 50 points. John MacCausland and Phil Trinter (Cherry Hill, N.J./Lorain, Ohio) are fifth with 52 points in the 16-boat fleet that launched from the Treasure Island Sailing Center.

Silvestri, Myrdal, Dey and Reynolds/Liljedahl join the members of the USA's 2000 Olympic Team - Yachting already determined: Mistral boardsailors Lanee Butler (Aliso Viejo, Calif.) and Mike Gebhardt (Ft. Pierce, Fla.); the 470 Men's team of Paul Foerster (Garland, Texas) with Bob Merrick (Portsmouth, R.I.); the 470 Women's team of JJ Isler (La Jolla, Calif.) with Pease Glaser (Long Beach, Calif.); brothers Jonathan and Charlie McKee (both Seattle, Wash.) in the 49er; and the Tornado team of John Lovell (New Orleans, La.) and Charlie Ogletree (Long Beach, Calif./Columbia, N.C.). The three remaining members of the Team will be named at the conclusion of the Soling Trials scheduled on San Francisco Bay from June 1-11, 2000.

BROWN AND CALLAHN/BURHANS/AUCREMAN WIN 2000 US PARALYMPIC TEAM TRIALS

Fog and the 5-10 knots of wind predicted for the final day of racing at the Paralympic Team Trials -Yachting will have no affect on 2.4 Metre sailor Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine), or the Sonar team of Paul Callahan (Newport, R.I./Palm Beach, Fla.), Keith Burhans (Irondequoit, N.Y.) and Corky Aucreman (Dana Point, Calif.). The four secured their berths on the U.S.A.'s 2000 Paralympic Games Team at the conclusion of racing yesterday. After confirmation by the U.S. Olympic Committee (Colorado Springs, Colo.), they will compete at the Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia, scheduled for October 20-27, 2000, when sailing will make its debut as a full medal sport. (At the '96 Paralympic Games in Lake Lanier, Ga., sailing -- in Sonars -- served as an exhibition event and attracted 15 countries.) Hosted by St. Petersburg Yacht Club (St. Petersburg, Fla.), racing for the 40 competitors in these two classes began on April 12.

Sonar (Skipper and two crew):

1998 World Disabled Sailing Silver Medalists Paul Callahan (Newport, R.I./Palm Beach, Fla.) and Keith Burhans (Irondequoit, N.Y.) with '98 World Disabled Sailing Gold Medalist Corky Aucreman (Dana Point, Calif.) posted five bullets in their seven-race series. With a drop race figured into the scoring, Callahan/Burhans/Aucreman topped the 11-boat fleet with seven points overall.

Finishing second was '98 Independence Cup Champion John Kostanecki (Sugarland, Texas) with Hugh Elliot (Alexandria, Va.) and Mike Passaro (Orangevale, Calif.) with 14 points. In third with 16 points: David Trude (Oxnard, Calif.) with '98 World Disabled Sailing Gold Medalist Waldo Esparza and Larry Kutno (both Seffner, Fla.). Mike Strahle (McCloud, Calif.) with Jonathan Hahn (Sarasota, Fla.) and Craig Ackerman (Redding, Calif.) were fourth with 23 points, and '98 World Disabled Sailing Gold Medalist John Ross-Duggan (Newport Beach, Calif.) with Chris Murphy (Annapolis, Md.), and Jim Leatherman (Baltimore, Md.), were fifth with 24 points.

Paralympic 2.4 Metre class:

Six first-place finishes earned Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine) the decisive win in the seven-boat 2.4 Metre class. Brown, a member of the 1999 U.S. Sailing Team (able-bodied) in the Soling class, discarded his worst finish - a third - to clinch the series with six points. 1997 North American Paralympic 2.4 Metre Champion David Schroeder (Miami, Fla.) was second with 13 points. John Ruf (Pewaukee, Wis.), Rick Doerr (Clifton, N.J.), and Tom Franklin (Miami, Fla.), round out third through fifth place with 16, 24 and 31 points, respectively.

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