2024 US Olympic Trials
As I am writing this post, I am sitting in the library back at WashU 10 days after the end of the US Olympic Trials. I suppose that spoils the surprise of the results of trials, but I wanted to give one final campaign update and most importantly say thank you.
Competing in the US Olympic trials was the most stressful, emotional, rewarding and honestly fun experience of my life. My love for competition grew immensely as the week went along. Despite finishing second, I am so incredibly proud of the campaign I conducted and how I performed at trials. I saw the culmination of a year’s worth of full-time training in what I can confidently say was the best regatta of my life. I executed skills and strategy to the highest level of my career and for that I am endlessly proud. Through some combination of not performing the best amongst the girls that one specific week, luck, or fate, I found myself finishing second.
The regatta started with a day of heavy wind slalom which I would say is likely my weakest wind/discipline combination. The conditions were incredibly challenging as we were reaching in heavy wind and the reaches pointed in the direction of the waves. I struggled to find my starts the first two races, starting late the first race and starting without clear air the second. The third I fell three times (probably a compounding effect after the first fall)! Finally, I ended the day with a second place in a fairly clean race. The first day was hard, I took on a lot of points, but I am incredibly proud of my mental game and ability to be resilient throughout the day and felt ready to take on Day 2.
Day 2 brought fairly windy course racing and I finished second, first, and first in the three races of the day. I felt fast upwind and despite making errors, felt confident in my ability to compete and am proud of the racing I completed this day.
Day 3 brought similar conditions to Day 2, with more course racing. My speed upwind continued to be dominant and allow me to make errors in other sections of the racecourse and still find success. I finished third, first, first, and third in the four races of the day. At this point I was within a couple points of first and very excited for the rest of the regatta.
Day 4 was always forecasted to have winds above 25 knots and big sea state so eventually the race committee made the decision to move racing into Biscayne Bay to avoid the potentially un-raceable sea state in the Atlantic Ocean. Racing in Biscayne Bay meant my favorite conditions- windy and flat course races. I won both races of the day until racing was cut short due to a race committee decision that there was too much seaweed on the course. I felt absolutely dominate on the racecourse. During one race, I hit a submerged line and crashed while in the lead, two boards passed me, but I managed to pass them and still win the race. It was upsetting to have racing cut short, but I was feeling great momentum and progress going into the mid-regatta rest day.
Day 5 was another day of slalom racing and after my poor slalom performance on Day 1, the goal was to simply not widen the gap between me and first place. I succeeded in doing just that by finishing the races in second, third, first, second, and first. I was happy to see my improvement in slalom and see improvement in slalom starts which was a focus in my winter training.
Day 6 was an extremely challenging day. It was forecasted to be moderate wind course racing (a condition I am very confident in) and I was going in only 3 points behind first place, a very surmountable gap. Instead, we were presented incredibly marginal slalom conditions. I finished third, third, second, and second in the four races. This brought me to a point gap that I was very unlikely to overcome in the last five races of the regatta. I was utterly devasted. It was incredibly hard to feel so much progress and to be so close to a dream I’d been working for full-time for a year and part-time for years before that and fall just short. However, even with the less than ideal score line, I far exceeded expectations of my abilities in my historically worst wind condition. I was even the only one foiling at the start of race 1 (it was eventually abandoned since iQFOiL class rules say 30% of the fleet must be foiling and I was the only one). Even though it didn’t count, it illustrated huge progress and for that I am very proud.
The last day I tried to soak in every moment of racing and be deeply appreciative of windsurfing, my love for racing, and how my skills have developed to the highest level. I did just that and the conditions were simply perfect. I appreciated the feeling of flying on the foil, the way the sail felt in my hands, and the exhilaration of winning three out of the five races. Since I essentially knew the racing was over at the beginning of the day, I knew my period of full-time windsurfing was coming to a close. It made me realize the deep love I have for the sport and the indescribable feeling of intense competition.
As I write this post I am brought to tears. I think they are from a mixture of loss and disappointment from not achieving the goal but also from my love, appreciation, and gratitude for the sport of windsurfing and the experience of Olympic trials and an Olympic campaign. This experience was truly life changing and I am a different and fuller person after the experience. I learned how to push and focus towards a singular goal, how to be extremely resilient, and how to push myself beyond my perceived limits. Interestingly, trials exponentially increased my desire to consider a 2028 Olympic Campaign. I found myself exceeding expectations and performing at the highest level. I realized I am addicted to progress, and I feel like my windsurfing journey would be incomplete without continuing to pursue my talent in the sport. But that’s a decision for later; for now, I am focused on finishing my degree at WashU.
I want to finish this blog post with the sincerest thank you. Thank you all for your support throughout the journey; it brought me indescribable joy and strength throughout the process, and I appreciate it deeply. I also want to thank my family and especially my parents for being so supportive of my dreams. I want to thank Justin Ahearn and the Clearwater Community Sailing Center for supporting me throughout my entire windsurfing journey and Justin’s invaluable insights during trials that certainly changed the course of the regatta for the good. Lastly the biggest of thank yous to Maverick who played so many roles during my journey: coach, training partner, and boyfriend :). He dealt with my crazy antics and is responsible for a huge percentage of my growth throughout the winter season. So once again, thank you for supporting me on this journey of a lifetime – it means so much and I’m so grateful.
