Both USA Skiffs advance to Medal Race, Barrows & Henken in Gold Medal contention for Paris 2024
by US Sailing Team 1 Aug 10:24 NZST
July 28 - August 8, 2024
Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) and Hans Henken (San Fransisco, CA) are in fourth overall and in contention for a medal during tomorrow's medal race © World Sailing
Light winds and scorching temperatures descended once again on the Bay of Marseille for day four of the Paris 2024 sailing events, providing a tense field for competitors on the last day before medal races for the Men's and Women's Skiffs on August 1. USA's Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea will enter tomorrow's Women's Skiff medal race in 10th overall, and Ian Barrows and Hans Henken will enter the Men's Skiff medal race in 4th overall with a chance at a gold medal.
The Men's and Women's Windsurfers spent long hours on the water attempting the first Marathon races of the Olympics but ultimately abandoned the valiant effort of two laps around the Bay after an hour to transition back to light wind slalom-style racing. The attempted Marathon races delayed the Skiffs, and all athletes had their mental stamina and resilience tested on the longest day of the regatta thus far.
Despite the sweltering heat, Ian Barrows (St. Thomas, USVI) and Hans Henken (San Francisco, CA) kept their cool, placing second in the day's opening race. They were first to tack off the start line, chose the right side of the course, and kept their speed to hold the lead on the fleet, losing their bullet only to New Zealand on the final leg.
The breeze continued to change as the day progressed, and the USA Men's Skiff team closed out the day with an 8th and 11th - moving them into fourth overall and putting them handily into the medal race. Barrows and Henken will enter tomorrow's race in fourth with 80 points, 12 away from a gold medal.
"Our big goal at the beginning of this event was to go into the medal race with the chance of winning a medal, and that's exactly where we are right now," said Henken. "We'll look at the numbers tonight, look at what we need to do, then go out and give it our all tomorrow."
On medal race day, the top 10 finishers from the regular series take to the water for one final race where all finishes count for double points (1st now gets two points, 2nd now gets four, etc.) and major movements can happen on the scoreboard. The medal race drives excitement to the very end of the regatta. Tune in live to watch Ian and Hans go for the gold starting at 0813 on NBC's Peacock.
After a challenging day on the water yesterday, the women's skiff team of Stephanie Roble (East Troy, WI) and Maggie Shea (Chicago, IL) refocused their energy on the final three races of the regular series, with the goal of making the 49erFX medal race. They kept their finishes all in the top 10, scoring an 8th, 7th, and 9th, which put them in 10th overall and guaranteed them a ticket to the medal race.
While they are mathematically out of medal contention, Roble and Shea are looking to go into the final race with all the knowledge and experience of not only the past few days, but of their eight years sailing together in the 49erFX.
"We came off the water today feeling really proud of how we sailed," said Roble. "Now we have a lot to fight for tomorrow, and we're ready to put our best foot forward."
"The regatta feels like it's flown by so quickly so there's obviously some mixed emotions but the goal today was to make the medal race and we did that, so we're going to show up and fight tomorrow and see what we can do," added Shea.
The Windsurfers had a difficult day with timing setbacks and changes of course styles due to insufficient wind. Race committee set out to complete the first Marathon races in history at an Olympic Games in both the men's and women's divisions, but had to abandon and reset to light wind slalom racing.
The women's fleet was first to attempt a historic first Marathon race which was abandoned when USA's Dominique Stater (Miami, Florida) was on her second lap and to the lee of Île d'If, one of the islands in the long distance marathon boundary. Stater ended her day in 22nd overall with five more races to come tomorrow.
On the slalom course, USA's Noah Lyons pushed the limit resulting in a black flag for race nine in an otherwise excellent regatta for the first time Olympian from Clearwater, Florida.
"Today was a little bit of everything- some good moments, then I got a black flag, so some not so great," said Lyons. "But in these races you have to push, and that's the price you pay sometimes when you push too hard. I don't regret anything. You have to give it everything you've got, and I definitely did that so I'm happy at the end of the day."
Lyons rounded out the rest of his day with a 9th, 6th, and 11th to land in 6th overall. With five races remaining until the medal series contenders are decided, there's still room for movement in the overall standings. Lyons will work to qualify for the medal series on August 2nd when scores reset and it's anyone's game for the podium.
The fifth day of competition is gearing up to be another light wind day on the water, but the intensity is brewing all the same for the first medal races of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Viewers back home can catch the action on NBC's Peacock with archived reruns to follow.