Paige Railey wrapped up a bronze medal yesterday in the Laser Radial class, matching the bronze that Sally Barkow, Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham and Alana O'Reilly won in the Elliott 6s. That will be all for Team USA's medals this week. We were hoping for more, but we're proud of those two medals. We also walk away from this event with clear action plans for several other classes where we are close, but not yet where we need to be.

We've made some great strides this week, for sure, but there is still plenty of work to do. That's obvious and undeniable. And with twelve months to go before the Games, we'll be looking at every aspect of our program, on and off the water, to make sure we're doing things the correct way. We'll need every ounce of energy on this team pointed in the same direction if we are going to reach our goals. Any little bit of energy spent on the wrong things will take away from our overall effort, and everything is on the table for consideration.

-Dean Brenner
Chairman, Olympic Sailing Committee

We are so proud of our pipeline program and the results we are seeing from our talented next generation of Olympic sailors. The team coming home from the ISAF Youth Worlds with three silver medals shows that we have the next group of sailors ready to successfully move into Olympic class boats.  

At the London 2012 Olympic Games Test Event, the US Team scored two bronzed medals: Laser Radial, won by Paige Railey and in Women's Match Racing, won by Sally Barkow, Alana O'Reilly and Elizabeth Kratzig Burnham. As the only Pre-Olympic test event prior to the 2012 Olympic Games, the 2011 Weymouth and Portland International Regatta served as a benchmark for Games preparation. The US also was represented in the eight additional Olympic classes: Zach Railey (Finn), Erin Maxwell and Isabelle Kinsolving Farrar (Women's 470), Stuart McNay (Boston,Mass.) and Graham Biehl (Men's 470), Brad Funk (Laser), Erik Storck and Trevor Moore (49er), Robert Willis (Men's RS:X), Farrah Hall (Women's RS:X) and Mark Mendelblatt and Brian Fatih (Star).

In the one year countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, US SAILING has launched a new website that highlights America's sailing athletes' journey to Weymouth, U.K., the location of the sailing competition. The new site, http://olympics.ussailing.org, illustrates the U.S. Team's "Way to Weymouth" and was created in-house at the sport's national governing body in collaboration with the Olympic Sailing Committee with the goal of sharing the excitement of Games preparation with fans across the country. "By offering a central online setting for Team news, athlete video profiles, action photography and regatta results, our goal is to give fans an exclusive view into how athletes train and compete in the quest for Olympic and Paralympic medals," said Dean Brenner, Chairman, Olympic Sailing Committee.

In a thrilling final day of racing, US SAILING's Youth World Team won three silver medals at the 2011 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth World Championship, in Zadar, Croatia. US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) athlete Erika Reineke won silver in Laser Radial; Morgan Kiss and Christina Lewis won silver in Girls 420; and Antoine Screve and Mac Agnese won silver in the 29er. Today was the final day of racing for the 349 sailors from 54 countries who competed in the seven-day series.

USSTAG Olympic Coach Leandro Spina praised the twelve young sailors, whom he coached along with USSTAG Olympic Coach Luther Carpenter. "USA tied on medal count with Spain and France," he said. "In the past two years, USA has won six medals, which is perhaps the best in the world. Our sailors' performance showed that our overall approach to sharing coaching and experience from the USSTAG athletes with the Development program is raising their game."

In a remarkable display of consistent sailing across six days of racing, US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics' Erika Reineke won the 2011 Laser Radial Youth World Championship held July 24-31, in La Rochelle, France. Less than two weeks prior, Reineke won a silver medal at the ISAF Youth Worlds and moments after the prizegiving she stated her goal of defending her 2010 Radial World title.

"I am so happy to achieve the gold; it's a dream come true," said 17-year-old Reineke, who repeats as the World Champion. "I wanted it last year and I wanted to win it again this year."

To reflect the advancement of Olympic class sailing in the U.S. and to meet the increased demand from talented sailors to join the US Sailing Development Team (USSDT), US SAILING's Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) announced a new structure for the 2012 USSDT. The team will have two groups: the Olympic Development Team, focused on performance in Olympic Class equipment; and the Youth Development Team, focused on performance in the equipment used in the ISAF Youth World Championship. Created in 2007 and known then as the Elite Youth Development Team, and the program was expanded in 2008 to help young athletes who have been identified as future Olympic prospects to acquire the skills necessary to launch successful campaigns and compete at the Olympic level.