Summer: Training in Marseille & the Olympic Test Event

In early June, I got to Marseille to start preparing for the Olympic Test Event, which was July 10-16. It gave me about 5 weeks to become familiar and confident with the venue, along with finish some final equipment testing and practice racing. The Olympic Test Event was my peak event of the year - this is where I wanted to deliver the best possible result, which meant finishing in the top 3 in order to secure my spot as the US representative for the 2024 Olympic Games. There was a lot at stake here - I felt fresh, nervous, anxious, but excited.

Marseille is an incredibly challenging venue. The sea state is very difficult because the water is uniquely turbulent. Because of the way the bay is shaped and protected by an island, the water is constantly bouncing off of rocks all around, never settling or being absorbed by a sandy beach. In addition, Marseille is a very busy port city and popular sailing city, so there is an incredible amount of shipping traffic from all kinds of power boats and sailboats. This makes the water really difficult to navigate. In the summer, the wind can be anything - it can literally come from almost any direction and be as light as only 5 knots or as windy as 40. This made it really important for me to try to spend as much time as possible at this venue to get familiar with all these different nuances in the conditions. I also got to do a coach-organized practice regatta which was great practice racing and helped me learn a lot about the venue from a tactical standpoint. It also exposed some weaknesses in my speed which was great to learn and work on in the following weeks.

As an athlete on the US Sailing Team, I’m very privileged to have access to the team base set up at the Yachting Club Pointe Rouge. We have two US containers set up right by the water in Marseille, which makes it easy to have equipment storage, an air-conditioned place to debrief, and an area where you see all your teammates. It is also exciting because there are a few other countries in the same area, and there is an atmosphere of professionalism around because everyone is there training for the Olympics and working hard to do their best. You get to know a lot of athletes from other countries and I’ve formed great friendships through just being in this environment.

At the end of June I got the opportunity to visit Paris for a couple days to attend an early Independence Day celebration at the US Embassy. It was a very nice way to disconnect and experience something outside of sailing. 

Finally, it was time to race at the Test Event. Honestly, I was feeling pretty tired and fatigued from such a long block in France. Although I had settled into a good routine, just being there and surviving in the summer heat was draining. Despite this, I was excited to finally get racing. The regatta started out a bit rough. I was really struggling with my starts and couldn’t get off the line to execute my strategies, which was costing points in the results. I felt very inconsistent too - sometimes I had the speed but wasn’t racing as well, other times I was struggling with speed but racing execution was spot on. By the final day of racing, I was exhausted. The heat was getting to me and I couldn’t wait to be able to relax and take a break. I managed to finish 3rd, achieving my goal of finishing on the podium in order to earn the US selection to go to the Games. Another box: checked. However, I felt pretty disappointed that I hadn’t sailed my best at my peak event of the year. Still, it was time to move on to the next thing - world championships were coming up in just a few weeks.

I spent the next two weeks in Newport to get some solid time in the gym. Newport is a great place to be because so much of the American sailing community is there, especially in the summer. It was great to meet so many members of the sailing world that I wouldn’t otherwise have opportunities to connect with. With some consistency in the gym, I even managed to gain some weight, which helps with speed on the board. My team also continued working on some projects in the background to optimize my personal equipment while I took this time off. Overall, I was feeling pretty tired and excited for the season to be at the back end.