ICSA News


QUANTUM WOMEN’S COLLEGE SAILOR OF THE YEAR ANNOUNCED AND ICSA WOMEN’S ALL-AMERICAN TEAM HONORED

Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association

Austin, Texas (June 2, 2012) – The Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year award and ICSA Women’s All-American Team were announced at the final banquet for the Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA Women’s National Championships in Austin, Texas at the Austin Yacht Club.
 
The Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year award annually honors an individual who has performed at the highest level of competition in district and national championships. The ICSA All-America committee evaluates with great detail all of the finalists’ results and calculates the winner. Quantum believes that women sailors should receive the same recognition that male sailors receive in the sport to acknowledge women’s’ excellence in sailing and continue to foster its growth.
 
Past winners of this award include Olympic Gold Medalist and 2012 Olympic U.S. Sailing Sperry Top-Sider Team member, Anna Tunnicliffe (Old Dominion University) of Team Maclaren and Genny Tulloch (Harvard University) a U.S. Sailing Sperry Top-Sider Team member.
 
The finalists this year were Sydney Bolger (Georgetown University) and Anne Haeger (Boston College), both graduated seniors.
 
While it was close between the two women Bolger came out on top having stronger finishes in women’s regattas. She won A-division in nearly every women’s regatta she sailed this year. Bolger is a four-time ICSA Women’s All-American skipper and an accomplished international competitor. She has been named to the 2012 U.S. Sailing Olympic Development Team for the Women’s 470 Class.
 
“I am extremely honored [to receive this award], especially being a finalist alongside Anne Haeger, who is a fantastic sailor,” Bolger says. Achieving this honor is something she says she aspired to going into her freshman year of college.
 
Bolger credits her parents and her grandfather for being the driving force behind her getting into sailing. She says her grandfather has sailed Sabots his whole life and even at age 85 has been known to get back into the boat. Bolger started sailing at the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club (Long Beach, Calif.) in the junior program at age eight.
 
Bolger was a Government major at Georgetown and a French minor. She will enjoy a short hiatus this summer and travel overseas to Paris. But in the fall, Bolger says she will move to Miami and pursue her dream of an Olympic campaign in the Women’s 470 class.
 
Haeger achieved this honor last year after a stellar 2010-2011 season. A Lake Forest, Illinois native, she spent the majority of this year sailing for Boston College in coed regattas. Haeger is a four-time ICSA Women’s All-American skipper and an ICSA Honorable Mention skipper. She was also named to the 2012 U.S. Sailing Olympic Development Team for the Women’s 470 Class. Haeger graduated this May from the Carroll School of Management with a degree in marketing.
 
The guidelines for All-America selection evaluate a competitor based on their competitive record in conference and North American Championships. Beyond that the committee analyzes how this record compares to fellow competitors, the quality of the competition the record was achieved in, the span of the record over the fall and spring seasons, results achieved with different crews, and how the record compares to previous All-American winners in previous years.
 
It is possible to select fifteen winners between the All-Americans and Honorable Mention All-Americans, however 13 were honored this year. Below is a list of the honorees.
 
Honorable Mention All-American Women Skippers
 
Sky Adams ’14 – Brown University
 
Mary Hall ’15 – U.S. Naval Academy
 
Deirdre Lambert ’15 – Dartmouth College
 
Natalie Salk ’13 – Tufts University
 
All-American Women Skippers
 
Emily Billing ’13 – Yale University
 
Sydney Bolger ’12 – Georgetown University
 
Atlantic Brugman ’13 – Connecticut College
 
Emily Dellenbaugh ’12 – Brown University
 
Marlena Fauer ’14 – Yale University
 
Anne Haeger ’12 – Boston College
 
Amy Hawkins ’12 – University of Rhode Island
 
Morgan Kiss ’15 – Yale University
 
Sarah Mace ’14 – Stanford University
 
Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year Finalists
 
Sydney Bolger ’12 – Georgetown University**
 
Anne Haeger ’12 – Boston College
 
*To view or purchase photos of the action from Women’s Nationals, visit the link for photos from photographer Bruce McDonald.
 
http://www.mcdonaldphoto.com/Sailing/2012-Intercollegiate
 
*Maclaren is the pre-eminent lifestyle brand for parenting. For nearly 50 years Maclaren has stood for excellence, empowerment and innovation, and is best known for the creation of the first umbrella buggy, which revolutionized baby transport. Like Maclaren, the sport of sailing encompasses a complete lifestyle with a rich heritage. In an effort to spread the positive impact of sailing, the Maclaren Sailing Sponsorship Programme promotes participation and retention in the sport of sailing on a global basis. Maclaren sponsors a variety of sailors and regattas around the world including training and community initiatives. Please visit www.maclarenbaby.com for more information.
 
*The Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) is the governing authority for sailing competition at colleges and universities throughout the United States and in some parts of Canada. Visit www.collegesailing.org to learn more .The ICSA National Championships are sponsored by Sperry Top-Sider (www.sperrytopsider.com), Annapolis Performance Sailing (www.apsltd.com), Gill North America (www.gillna.com), and US SAILING (home.ussailing.org).