Press Release

10/18/2007 - www.usolympicteam.com

470 sailors McNay and Biehl first to clinch an Olympic slot in West Coast Trials By Marlieke Eaton // U.S. Sailing // October 16, 2007 Visit U.S. Sailing SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA---Stuart McNay of Lincoln, Mass. and crew Graham Biehl, San Diego, dominating the men's 470 competition in the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing at Long Beach, became the first to clinch a 2008 Olympic sailing bid in West Coast Trials Saturday, joining Nick Scandone of Fountain Valley, Calif., who wrapped up SKUD-18 honors sailing with Maureen McKinnon-Tucker of Marblehead, Mass. in the Paralympic Trials at Newport, R.I. A few others are poised to break out the chopsticks for trips to China next summer, but the Stars remain a standoff at Marina del Rey, along with the Tornados at San Diego. Dreadfully light winds in the backwash of overnight rains drained all venues of brisk breeze Saturday, but the better competitors seemed to find their way best around the courses along the coast. 470 dinghy, Men and Women, Alamitos Bay Yacht Club/US Sailing Center, Long Beach, Calif. / McNay/Biehl and Clark/Mergenthaler: Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl are first among those seeking Olympic stature in eight West Coast Trials who can declare, "We're going to China!" But after long months stretching into years of campaigning, it hasn't sunk in. "Not quite," Biehl said after they finished 6-1 Saturday and put themselves out of reach of Mikee Anderson-Mitterling and David Hughes with two races to go, which they probably won't sail. Among the first to congratulate them was class advisor Kevin Burnham, whose famous back flip marked the gold medal victory for him and skipper Paul Foerster at Athens in 2004. "We've got a lot of big shoes to fill," Biehl said. McNay said, "We're looking forward to the release of a lot of tension." Meanwhile, in the same fleet, New Yorkers Amanda Clark and crew Sarah Mergenthaler moved within arm's length of the women's 470 berth with a 17-point lead over Erin Maxwell and 2004 Olympian Isabelle Kinsolving. "While not mathematically eliminated from winning the trials, we are practically eliminated," Kinsolving wrote in a newsletter later. "All they have to do is finish one of [Sunday's] races." ---Rick Roberts reporting