My Windsurfing Journey
I started windsurfing when I entered 8th grade. I was the only new person joining the team and the rest of the kids were already racing windsurfers. I felt like I was racing to catch up to their skill level. Therefore, my windsurfing started slowly as I was the only person at my level and couldn’t keep up with the boys. But as I progressed, I had more to talk to the boys on the team about and eventually formed a family at the Clearwater Community Sailing Center (CCSC). I started on Kona and attended two Kona Worlds (one of them being in Italy!!!) and then transitioned to Techno, then to Formula, and then bought my first foil. Even once I bought my first foil I wasn’t dead set on the Olympics, I was focused on getting into college and knew that would bring big changes in my life. However, the longer I foiled, the more iQFOiL gear I bought and the more committed I became. What sealed the deal? The Junior Pan American Games, where I had the opportunity to compete on Team USA and even brought home a medal! Junior Pan Americans was my first real glimpse into Olympic-level sailing and I knew I was hooked.
Sailing
When I joined the windsurfing team at CCSC, I also joined the Club 420 Team and competed on it for three years. I then raced a year of Laser Radials and did a J24 regatta in this time as well. After my year of Lasers, I committed full-time to windsurfing and stopped racing boats but loved every second I had in a boat and all the lessons it taught me.
CCSC
Joining the teams at CCSC had truly been the best decision of my life, not only has it allowed me to pursue an Olympic Dream, it has given me my second family. The people at CCSC are unmatched; they are the most passionate, considerate, and determined people out there and have shaped me into the person I am today. I simply cannot express my gratitude for CCSC and the immense value that the sailing center provides to every kid they send through the youth programs
.