For the second time this calendar year, Greens Farms Academy senior Katherine McNamara has made a major splash on the world sailing stage.
McNamara, a member of the GFA sailing team, and her friend/sailing partner Vanessa Lahrkamp, placed second to win a silver medal at the 50th annual Youth Sailing World Championships in Oman this week.
“Worlds was difficult at times but it feels great to come away with a medal at our last event in the i420,” McNamara told sail-world.com. “And winning the last race today was a great way to top it off.”
McNamara and Lahrkamp started the regatta off with a victory in the very first race of the event.
The duo also matched the World Championship winning team of Spain’s Neus Ballester Bover and Andrea Perello Mora, by winning four races total.
A ninth-place in the second race, a 14th place in the sixth race (in which the points were dropped), allowed the Spaniards, whose worse finish was a fourth, to pull away point-wise.
Still, a second-place finish was another strong showing for McNamara and Lahrkamp, who won the 2021 i420 World Championships in San Remo, Italy earlier this year.
Their efforts also helped Team USA place third in the Nations Trophy race with 54 points. France won the title with 37 points while Spain was second with 49. Team USA edged out Italy, which was fourth, by a point.
Fellow team USA leaders were thrilled with the results of the team, as quoted by sail-world.com
“This group of athletes sailed so well this week,” said team leader and 2008 Olympic gold medalist, Anna Tunnicliffe. “Coming away with four medals is a great result. We'll bring this experience back home to keep raising the level for the rest of the team.”
“These athletes, competing against the best of the rest of the world, show how our ODP is generating the future framework for our Olympic athletes,” said US Olympic Sailing Team Executive Director Paul Cayard. “Four medals, six top-ten finishers and all within the top 20 is an entire team effort. I'm very proud of all of our athletes that represented the USA during their time in Oman.”
“These athletes are a benchmark of work ethic, discipline, and focus,” said Olympic Development Director Leandro Spina. “Their effort is the DNA of our Olympic Development Program.”
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Photo credit: US Sailing