Six Team Sperry Top-Sider sailors capture Olympic medals

Leading global nautical performance and lifestyle brand Sperry Top-Sider®, is proud to announce that six Team Sperry Top-Sider athletes captured Olympic medals in Weymouth, England.

Of the 34 Team Sperry sailors, 30 athletes, representing seven countries including the U.S., UK, France, Sweden and Belgium competed at the Olympic Games, participating in a gruelling series of races over a two week period in Weymouth, England.

Belgium's Evi Van Acker was the first Team Sperry sailor to win a medal during Olympic sailing events, capturing a Bronze in the Women's Laser Radial in her second Olympic appearance. A sentimental favorite and competing in his fourth Olympic Games for Team Great Britain, RS:X sailor Nick Dempsey added a Silver medal to the Bronze he won in Athens in 2008.

In the Men's 470, Great Britain's Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell won Silver in their first Olympic Games, while their Team GB counterparts, the UK's Women's 470 team of Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills, also captured a Silver medal. This was the first Olympic games for Mills, while Clark had finished 6th in the 2008 games.

"Congratulations to the 30 Olympic sailors on Team Sperry Top-Sider who competed in Weymouth," said Craig Reingold, President of Sperry Top-Sider. "Each athlete's competitive spirit was an inspiration to us all. Their passion for competition is well aligned with Sperry Top-Sider's passion for performance, and on behalf of the entire company we are proud of all the Team Sperry athletes and especially the six who battled the best sailors in the world to earn medals and their place in history."

Several of the Team Sperry athletes who competed in the summer Games will be making guest appearances with Sperry Top-Sider at upcoming events. The first appearance will be at the forthcoming Southampton Boat Show in the UK, Sept 14-23, with additional appearances being planned to introduce the athletes to their fans at select Sperry retailers in Europe.

Summary of medal winners:

• Men's 470 – Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR) - Silver
• Men's RS:X – Nick Dempsey (GBR) – Silver
• Women's 470 – Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark and (GBR) – Silver
• Women's Laser Radial – Evi Van Acker (BEL) – Bronze

• Follow Team Sperry on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/SperrySailing
• Visit Team Sperry's page on the website at www.sperrytopsider.com/sailing