United States Coast Guard Academy - Department of Athletics - Sailing - Rohde 2nd at New England Women's Singlehanded Championship, qualifies for Nationals

Bristol, RI--(9/23/07)--Krysta Rohde, a freshman from Richmond Hill, GA, finished 2nd in a tough fleet of 25 at the New England Women's Singlehanded Championship hosted by Roger Williams University. The event brought all the top women sailors from New England to compete for five berths to the National Championship. Rohde sailed her way to the top of the fleet by finishing top five in 11 out of 18 races and winning a race on each day of the competition.

Rohde finished the regatta with 108 points, just 12 points behind the winner, Jane Macy from Yale. Rohde became just the 3rd woman in the program's history to qualify for the ICSA Women's Singlehanded National Championship, which will be hosted by the University of Washington on November 2-4.

Rohde with Anna Tunnicliffe.

Rohde had previous experience sailing Laser Radials before coming to the Coast Guard Academy, competing in many junior events throughout the country, including US Sailing's Youth Championship. She had been practicing hard with the team and training in radials to prepare for the event. Rohde even had the privledge of having the number 1 ranked female sailor in the world and favorite for an olympic gold medal, Anna Tunnicliffe, come to the Academy for a day for some one on one coaching. Her hard work paid off with this very impressive finish for a freshman sailor.