We're now at 169 days from the Olympics and 202 days from the Paralympics, as of tonight. And with most of our Teams chosen (all except our three women's match racers), our preparation takes two distinct tracks.

It's so exciting to know that we are yet another month closer to the Olympics and Paralympics. Many sailors have told me...."Wow, it's so close now and we cannot wait to show what we are made of in Weymouth." What was once this regatta in the distant future is now just a few months away.

The six members of the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team - Sailing were selected based on performances at US Sailing's 2012 Rolex Miami OCR, held Jan. 23-28, 2012, in Miami, Fla., and the IFDS Worlds held two weeks earlier in Port Charlotte, Fla.

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics (USSTAG) members Jen French (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and JP Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) scored a silver medal in the 8-boat SKUD-18 fleet at the 2012 IFDS World Championship. In a repeat finish of the 2011 Worlds, a gold medal went to GBR's Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell, and a bronze to Daniel Fitzgibbon and Liesl Tesch (AUS). The regatta, which took place Jan. 10-15 in Port Charlotte, Fla., served as the first of two U.S. Selection events for the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team.

In a thrilling conclusion to the Paralympic racing, US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics' Jen French and JP Creignou (both St. Petersburg, Fla.) earned a bronze medal in the SKUD-18 class.

US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics won one gold, two silver and one bronze medals on the concluding day of US Sailing's 2012 Rolex Miami OCR in the Finn, Women's RS:X, 49er and Women's Match Racing, respectively.