The Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year Award was announced at the final banquet for the Sperry Top-Sider/ Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) Women’s National Championships in Austin, Texas at the Austin Yacht Club.
Now in its tenth year, the award honors a female collegiate sailor who has performed at the highest level of competition in district and national championships. The ICSA All-America committee evaluates with great detail the results of the All-American finalists to determine the winner of the Quantum award. Quantum sponsors the award with the belief that women sailors should receive recognition for their dedication and achievements. Through this award, Quantum seeks to acknowledge women’s excellence in sailing and to foster greater participation and growth of the sport.
The finalists this year were Sydney Bolger of Georgetown University and Anne Haeger of Boston College, both graduated seniors.
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Sydney Bolger, Quantum Woman Collegiate Sailor of the Year.
Photo by Brad Bolger.
While the results of the candidates were very close, Bolger edged out Haeger with her 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 (including 2012) 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 was named the Quantum Women’s College Sailor of the Year in 2011 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 (including 2012) 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.
Past winners of the Quantum 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.
Winners of the Quantum Women Collegiate Sailor of the Year Award
2012 Sydney Bolger, Georgetown University
2011 Annie Haeger, Boston College
2010 Allie Blecher, College of Charleston
2009 Jane Macky, Yale University
2008 Kaitlin Storck, Tufts University
2007 Adrienne Patterson, St. Mary's College of Maryland
2006 Alana O’Reilly, College of Charleston
2005 Anna Tunnicliffe, Old Dominion University
2004 Genny Tulloch, Harvard University
2003 Corrie C. Clement, Old Dominion University
Sydney Bolger and crew Rebecca Evans competing at the Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA National Championships in Austin, Texas. Photos by Brad Bolger.
Final Results of the Sperry Top-Sider/ICSA Women’s National Championship
1. Boston College, 142
2. Yale University, 146
3. University of Rhode Island, 150
4. Georgetown University, 156
5. Connecticut College, 187
6. College of Charleston, 210*
7. U.S. Naval Academy, 210*
8. Harvard University, 218
9. Brown University, 236
10. University of South Florida, 242
11. Eckerd College, 248
12. Dartmouth College, 249
13. Stanford University, 277
14. St. Mary’s College of Maryland, 278
15. University of Hawaii, 302
16. University of Michigan, 373
17. University of Texas, 409
18. Western Washington University, 413
*Head-to-head tiebreaker
Full results: http://2012nationals.collegesailing.org/
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).
