Peaking at the Right Time

26 days to go!

In the month since our last update, we have logged 20 more days training in Rio de Janeiro and enjoyed time mentally resetting – me in Brazil and Seattle, and Paris in Peru and San Diego.

Our June training camp in Rio was packed full of productivity. We are feeling fast, smart, comfortable on the Guanabara Bay racecourses, fit, flexible, and united. Our Olympic boat is the best we’ve ever seen. Thanks to so much time on the boat recently, we are at a point where sailing the boat is so second-nature that our minds are free to think about communication, tactics and strategy. We have been practice racing, testing equipment, and tuning with our training partners, Vicky & Sol from Argentina.

Towing in after practice, from the courses outside the bay back into Guanabara Bay

We feel extremely fortunate to be part of the US Sailing Team Sperry. The team has given us many invaluable resources in terms of knowledge and access to some of the greatest minds in sailing. There’s more camaraderie than ever and we look forward to staying with our US teammates during the July training camp starting tomorrow.

We want to thank our coach Willie McBride who has helped us improve remarkably in a matter of months. Willie has a knack for stepping back to see the bigger picture so that we are using our numbered days most productively.

I was lucky enough to celebrate my 24^th birthday in Brazil during our camp. We started off the day with a surprise outrigger canoeing venture on Guanabara Bay. We had perfect conditions for our training that afternoon and our Argentinean training partners surprised us with a gift of Havannas (dulce de leche with chocolate!) as they sailed up to us to begin training! Topped the day off with a Muay Thai (like kickboxing) workout and a gigantic homemade cake – it doesn’t get much better than that!

Outrigger paddling on Guanabara Bay

The time that we used to spend fundraising is now all spent responding to requests for interviews. It is exciting that we are reaching many non-sailing audiences, such as through ESPNW and the New York Times.

We are tremendously excited to announce that on July 4^th, the documentary Uncharted Waters was released online. We are lucky enough to be two of the 10 athletes featured in this film. You can watch it directly on http://uncharted.sunbrella.com/! It is powerful and inspirational, and what you will learn about us and our team from watching it will make following the Games even more enjoyable.

Thank you to the dozens and dozens of generous individuals who have donated to our campaign – many of you contributed long before we were getting Olympic-level results, and many of you have supported us since we qualified for the Olympics, understanding that we still have to cover many of the costs ourselves.

Thank you to our sponsors: Expedia, Spinnaker Watches, Oakley, and Avasol sunscreen. Also, thank you the St Francis Sailing Foundation, Seattle Yacht Club Foundation, and Northern California Olympians Foundation. Of course, thanks to the sponsors and supporters of the US Sailing Team Sperry, including Sunbrella, Harken, McLube Marine, and Group Bénéteau, and especially our title sponsor Sperry. We are so proud to represent you at the Olympics!

We will be posting here once or twice more before the Games, but in case you are already wondering…

How to watch us during the Games:

We will be racing from August 12^th-18^th.

We will stop posting on our team social media starting August 6^th, in order to devote our full attention to the competition. After August 6^th, please follow the US Sailing Team Sperry social media for updates:

Facebook: US Sailing Team Sperry

Twitter: @USSailingTeam

Instagram: @USSailingTeam

Youtube: US Sailing Team

You can also sign up for the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team News Distribution List by emailing a request to be added to Communication Manager Will Ricketson. You can request a specialized subscription to Henken/Scutt news or to any of our sailing teammates.

Finally, you can sign up for the Medalist Newsletter, your best source for periodic updates on the team. The Newsletter will appear monthly between now and the Games, and daily during the Olympics and Paralympics.

One thought on “Peaking at the Right Time”

Tamsin Shelton says:

July 15, 2016 at 9:58 am

We’ll do our best to follow you from Japan, so thank you for all the information.

The smoothie sounds delicious – will try adding turmeric and cinnamon to the one we make.

The very best of luck to you both, but above all have a simply amazing time.