2004 Paralympics Racing
Day
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2.4m results
Sonar results
Day
One
Preliminary
results show that after the first day of racing in the 2004 Paralympic
Regatta, ISR leads in the Sonar Class with two first place finishes,
In second place, with scores of 3-2 are the USA team of John Ross-Duggan,
J.P.Creignou and Brad Johnson. Other expected medal contenders,
NED GBR CAN and GER, are in 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th places respectively.
In
the 2.4mR Class, Tom Brown of the USA is in second place (4-2) tied
with 2000 Gold Medalist Heiko Kroeger of GER (2-4) behind Damien
Seguin of FRA who, like ISR in the Sonar Class, took a pair of bullets.
But
after reading Roger Cleworth's account of the first day things did
change. Enjoy.
At
the start of the day today, many sailors were looking at the flags
snapping rapidly straight out from their poles. Mel, the Meltemis,
had come for a visit and the winds were blowing over 20 knots. At
10:30am, the postponement flag for the 2.4’s went up delaying
their harbor start for at least another hour. There was no postponement
for the Sonar class and at 11:45 the three manned Sonars and their
coach boats began to parade out of the harbor.
To
harness our apprehension of the strong winds and tap into our powerful
sailing spirits, Brad led the team in a group cheer. Brad was chosen
for his loud mouth, oops, voice, and the effect on the other countries
sharing our dock was amazing! A very loud, “Whose house is
this?” brought a response from our team of “Our House”.
Then even louder Brad yelled “Whose house?” and we shouted
“U-S-A” Brad shouted again shaking the venue with his
voice “Who? And we rocked the dock with “U-S-A”
and a final “Hunh”. Definitely an attention getter and
it lifted our spirits at the same time.
Out
on the water, there were white caps blowing off the tops of the
waves. The wind puffs were coming over the Meltemi mountains and
blowing in great puffs over the Aegean Sea, against the Sonars who
had come to play.
The
first start was not a good one for the team. They quickly found
themselves below many boats and being driven to the left side of
the course which was not their plan. After 45 seconds they found
a lane to tack in and head off to the right side on port. This tactic
worked for them and slowly they picked off boats and fought their
way to the top of the fleet.. By the time they reached the bottom
of the first of three laps and rounded the leeward mark, they were
in 2nd place followed by Aus, Esp, Irl, and Canada. Israel was leading.
They were again 2nd at the 2nd rounding of the leeward mark and
finished the race in third place behind Australia and Israel. Australia
finished less than a boat length in front of the USA. Third place
was a great start for the first race of the regatta.
The
wind prepared the 2nd race of the day with a lighter 16 knots and
threatened to lighten. After a great start at the race committee
boat just below GRE, the team worked their way up the middle of
the course and rounded the leeward mark first with GBR, NED, AUS,
and ESP close behind, watching for any mistakes by the leaders.
The 30-40 degree wind shifts made it difficult for USA to maintain
the lead and at the second rounding of the leeward mark Israel had
past them and headed once more up the course. The end of the second
race saw the Israeli’s taking first then USA, GBR, NED, POL,
AUS, ESP, GER, IRL, and CAN.
A
3rd and a second for the first day was satisfying. First day jitters
are tough to perform well under and we were in 2nd place overall.
However, a protest by the Netherlands against the Israeli’s
forced then to relinquish their 1st place victory in the 2nd race
to Team USA. Israel had to take last place for loosing the protest
allowing Team USA to move into 1st Place!
Links:
IFDS
International Paralympic website
US
Disabled Sailing Team website
Thanks
for your support and your prayers.
Roger
Back Top
Day
Two
Today
was the second day of racing and the race committee dropped the
first flag right on time. Team USA was expecting lighter winds than
the breeze they had to start today’s racing. The forecast
winds were suppose to be light and they decided to trust this prediction.
Fortunately the winds lightened and strengthened again. The light
weather jib they went with for the day never seemed to hold them
back.
Todays
conditions were challenging at best. Great shifts in the direction
of the breeze and the up and down velocity saw most of yesterdays
leaders suffer. Our Sonar team however has proven themselves once
again and remain in first place. The first race they finished in
third place and 6th place in the second race. Israel remains a strong
competitor and was the winner of the second race. Canada won the
first race.
At
the dock this morning the top three boats from yesterdays regatta
was given round colorful decals for their sails. Our Sonar team
received a yellow circle for first place, Norway received a blue
circle for second place and Australia received a red circle for
third. Each day the competitors who are in the top three will receive
circles for their sails.
On the 2.4 fleet Tom
Brown pulled out two first place finishes earning him a first overall
position at this point in the regatta. He will receive a yellow
decal to place on his sails on Tuesday morning, their next day of
sailing.
Links:
IFDS
International Paralympic website
US
Disabled Sailing Team website
Thanks
for your support and your prayers.
Roger
Back Top
Day
Three
For
the second day in a row the USA Sonar Team sailed out with a green
circle on their sails signifying their first place standing. With
two races scheduled to start at 1:00 the team was down on the docks
by 10:30. Typically dock time is 9:30 start but the bus got lost
and Brad, Jp, and Roger took the round about way to the sailing
venue. This is actually the second time this week that JP and Roger
have been on a bus on the way to the venue and the driver lost his
way!
The
first race of the day saw the team winning the pin and catching
the first lefty yeehaa, that’s so nice when it happens. This
lead them to rounding the weather mark in first place also. However
the run down saw some fluky winds and they lost a few places. A
tough uphill battle for the rest of the race saw them finish in
6th place, ouch!
The second race found
the Team a little anxious to get going and they were over the starting
line early and had to follow a few others back under the starting
line to begin again. By the time the first lap was over, they had
caught back up to half the fleet. There were more in front to catch.
At the end of the second lap, the team hadn’t caught many
more boats and Germany had stretched out their lead on the fleet.
At the bottom gates half the fleet went left back to the top and
half went right but just as most of the had rounded the wind died
completely, switched off. The leaders were being caught by the boats
in the back. Then the wind shifted 80 degrees to the left and the
boats which had gone right were now in the back, big ouch! The Sonar
team finished 7th. This should drop them back to 4th place overall.
Tomorrow the Sonars have
off. Their next race day is Wednesday. The 2.4’s had off today
but will race tomorrow.
Links:
IFDS
International Paralympic website
US
Disabled Sailing Team website
Thanks
for your support and your prayers.
Roger
Back Top
Day
Four
There were many nervous
sailors on the docks this morning. The postponement flag only increased
the time to wait for the action to begin. When the races did start
the sea breeze had come in and was blowing around 6 knots from the
southwest. Another gorgeous day for racing sailboats. We have not
seen rain or cloudy skies the whole time we have been here.
The Sonar team had a
great start for the first race. They port approached and tucked
under the Israelis. With ten seconds to start they bore away and
gained speed in time to hit the line running. They made it first
to the top of the course and second to the first leeward mark. Then
the shifty winds took over and the next run down found them a few
more boats behind with the Greek team way out in front. They finished
the race in 8th. This would be their new drop score.
The second race found
the Sonar team looking for the left shift which never came, but
the wind was strong on the left side of the course and they kept
up in the top of the fleet. They finished the second race in 4th
place and are currently tied with Germany for 3rd overall.
There is one race tomorrow.
The sonar team has to beat the Germans to get the Bronze medal.
On
the 2.4 fleet, Tom Brown scored a bullet and a fourth. Going into
the day he was one point behind France. They are currently tied
with one race to go. Tom has a one point lower throw out than France.
It will be an interesting last day of racing.
Links:
IFDS
International Paralympic website
US
Disabled Sailing Team website
Thanks
for your support and your prayers.
Roger
Back Top
Day
Five
USA’s
PARALYMPIC SAILORS BRING HOME MEDALS
Silver
in 2.4 and Bronze in Sonar
Sonar team recieves medals |
ATHENS,
Greece (September 23, 2004) – The final day of competition
in the Paralympic Regatta has seen the USA win medals in the two
Paralympic sailing events. Tom Brown (Northeast Harbor, Maine) sailed
to a silver medal in the 2.4 Metre class; and the Sonar team of
John Ross-Duggan (Newport Beach, Calif.), Brad Johnson (Milwaukee,
Wis./Hollywood, Fla.), J.P. Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and
alternate Roger Cleworth (Lithia, Florida) captured the bronze on
the waters of the Saronic Gulf.
"It's
just hard to believe that this is a reality right now," said
Sonar skipper Ross-Duggan on receiving confirmation of his boat's
third-place overall finish. "We got exactly what we needed.
Everything just fell together."
With
the USA and German Sonar teams tied for third overall entering the
final race of the nine-race series, Duggan, Johnson and Creignou
needed to either beat Germany or have them finish no higher than
ninth place. The second scenario was the one that played out as
the Germans narrowly edged the USA at the finish line for ninth
place in the race.
"At
the last second I counted the boats ahead of us and said 'oh my
god, they're ninth and we're tenth.' That's exactly what we needed
to beat them by a point," said Ross-Duggan. "I think the
math works out. It scared me to death when I saw the German team
celebrating as they went across the finish line. I thought they
knew something we didn't know."
The
German celebration was premature as the USA discarded its tenth-place
finish for an overall score of 37 points to the German’s 38.
The Israeli team of Dror Cohen, Arnon Efrati and Benni Vexler dominated
the Sonar fleet throughout most of the series to overcome a disqualification
from race two that had toppled them from their lead position early
in the regatta. They won four races of the series, including today’s
final race, and secured the gold medal on 19 points. Udo Hessels,
Marcel van de Veen and Mischa Rossen of The Netherlands claimed
the silver medal with 28 points.
Duggan
adds the 2004 Paralympic Games bronze medal to the one he won in
1996 when sailing was introduced to the Paralympics as an exhibition
sport.
"This
is by far the best team I have ever had," said Ross-Duggan
of Johnson and Creignou. "It is a privilege to sail with them.
They are both experts in their areas on the boat. They're great
sailors."
For
2.4 Metre sailor Tom Brown, the winds of fortune proved as fickle
as the breezes over the Saronic Gulf in determining his silver medal.
The
Paralympic 2.4 Metre Bronze Medallist in Sydney, Brown entered today’s
final race tied with France's Damien Seguin for the fleet lead.
But after battling Sequin bow-to-bow to the second mark, Brown dropped
to 10th place -- where he would eventually finish the race. Sequin
went on to finish third and claim the gold while Thierry Schmitter
of The Netherlands earned the bronze.
"I'm
happy," said a disappointed but upbeat Brown following the
race. "Being so close you're all revved up and you’re
right there and have a shot to win it. I just feel bad that I didn't
really put it on today…I didn't give him a race."
Brown
was the only repeat medallist in Athens: 2000 gold medallist Heiko
Kroeger (Germany) placed fourth and 2000 silver medallist Jens Als
Anderson (Denmark) placed sixth in the 16-boat 2.4 Metre fleet.
"I
did move up a little bit (from bronze in 2000), so I don't feel
too bad about that," said Brown. "But moving up a little
bit every four years…that could take a long time."
Following
today’s final races in both fleets, Brown, Ross-Duggan, Johnson,
Creignou and alternate Roger Cleworth (Brandon, Fla.) were awarded
their medals at the Agios Kosmas Sailing Centre.
Heading Home
 Today
was our final day for the Agios Kosmas (cosmos) sailing venue. This
has been our home for three weeks. Each day arriving by bus or by
van we have become friends with the security people who have screened
all visitors to the sailing center. Most of the Greeks know a little
English many of them know a lot. Everyone of them has a gud morneng
for us when we arrive and we say calimera. Security has been like
going through an airport where our bags are run through an x-ray
machine and we are randomly patted down or scanned with a metal
detector. All of this is done very politely and always with a smile.
While in the sailing venue there have been many volunteers to help
put sails on, bring food or drinks, help put boats in the water,
or practically do anything we could ask for. For many Greeks this
is a paid position, but when asked they have said they would gladly
do it for free as meeting the athletes has been a wonderful experience
for them.
We started the day today
signing some autographs and showing our medals to people and our
competitors. As the attention subsided we began pulling our boats
out of the water and getting them ready to go back into the shipping
containers. We had three coach boats and two sailboats. Loading
took about 4 hours but by 4:30 we were done. We took some leisure
time and headed for the town nearby called Glyfada. We found a little
sidewalk café on a busy shopping street and had some cold
beer, some pizza and sandwiches.
Tomorrow some of the
team begins to head home while others stay for some sightseeing
or to see some of the other sports. It has been a great experience
for us, one we will remember for the rest of our lives. Thanks for
your interest in us and for encouraging us and for spreading the
news about disabled athletes. Thank you for your kind and supportive
emails, your e postcards, the parties you have given in our honor
a great thanks for being part of our team.
Sincerely,
Roger Cleworth,
on behalf of the entire United States Paralympic Sailing Team.
Just a reminder, here
are some links where you can find more information about what we
have accomplished.
http://ussailing.org/swsn
- Roger has mantained this website for US SAILING for 4 years. Navigate
to the “updates” section and there are many links for
Athens 2004. There is also a photo gallery page where I have posted
pictures.
http://usocpressbox.org/
- This website has great team pictures of us done by professional
photographers. It also has many press releases.
http://www.ussailing.org/olympics/OlympicGames/2004/Info/News.asp
this is a page on US SAILING’S website for their press releases.
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