Thirty-six teams competed at Women's National Championship hosted by the College of Charleston on May 23-26. The field of 36 teams was split into two groups for the Women's Semifinals with the top nine from each group qualifying for the finals.
The Polar Bears were in the Eastern Semifinals, competing in FJs the first day and 420s the second day. The team started the event strong with a string of top nine finishes. Day 2 of the semifinals featured much stronger wind but the Polar Bears were able to hold their own, finishing 9th overall with a comfortable margin over the tenth place team.
Mimi Paz '17 and Nora Cullen '18 sailed particularly well during the semifinals, finishing fourth in A-division with a 1-8-2 scoreline. The team earned the final qualifying spot out of NEISA on tiebreaker over Harvard.
"We were so happy to have qualified for the semifinals, and with that positivity we were able to make it even further into the finals. This was a week of extremely challenging and novel conditions for us Polar Bears, but keeping each other focused and excited gave us the opportunity to make it as far we could have possibly gone in our season."
- Mimi Paz '17
"I knew nationals would be a competitive and intense four days, but I also found them to be days filled with unexpected humor and persistent determination. We had high winds and big waves, torrential rain and no wind, thunderstorms, and ripping current. The amount of heart that went into nationals, and everything leading up to it, is why I love to sail and compete as a part of this team."
Nora Cullen '18
The Women's Finals were a highly competitive event. The first day of the finals featured very windy conditions with a max ebb tide during racing which made for challenging conditions. The current made starting very difficult and the Polar Bears struggled with putting complete races together.
The team improved during the second day and ultimately finished 17th overall. The entire team sailed in the finals including Mimi Paz '17, Nora Cullen, 18, Isabelle Austin-Green '19, Caitlin Tardio '19, Ellis Price '18, Dana Bloch '17, and Emily Gonzalez '20.
