Amanda Clark
Class: 470 Women
Position: Skipper
Birthdate: March 26, 1982
Birthplace: Southampton, N.Y.
Hometown: Shelter Island, N.Y.
High School: St. George's School (Rhode Island) / Shelter Island High School
College: Connecticut College (Graduated 2005)
US Sailing Team Alphagraphics: Europe (1998-2000); 470 Women (2001-08)
Member of: Shelter Island YC/New York YC/Seawanhaka Corinthian YC
Occupation: Full-Time Sailor and Coach
Sailing Since Age: 6
Personal:
Amanda Clark grew up on Shelter Island, a small island of roughly 21 square miles situated between the North and South Forks of Long Island, N.Y. But her life was never confined by the shores of her home: by her mid-20s, she had traveled to some 40 countries to represent the United States at sailing regattas.
Growing up in a tight-knit waterborne community - where she now lives with her husband - nurtured her as a sailor: "It kept me interested in sailing," she says. As a youngster in her singlehanded Optimist, she explored the creeks of the island, "to see how far I could sail before I ran out of water...I always got some great tacking practice." When the island's population shrank to its wintertime level, her dad driving a small chase boat became her only tuning partner: "He would pretend he was another boat I was racing against. I don't think I ever beat him!"
Clark's parents took her aboard the family's Herreshoff 12 ½ when she was a toddler. She watched her brother and sister sail and could not wait to get into her own boat, which she did at age 6 when she started sailing an Optimist. By the time she was in her early teens, she was racing in places like Germany, Ecuador, and Spain and captured a silver medal at the Optimist European Championships in 1996.
At age 15, Clark aged out of the Optimist and started racing a Europe dinghy - which was then the women's singlehanded Olympic class - and became the youngest female to make the US Sailing Team in the Europe class. An unsuccessful bid for the 2000 Olympic Team followed. Clark planned to stay in the Europe, but to be competitive in a singlehanded Olympic class, she had to keep a lot of weight on - which added resultant knee and back pain.
When an opportunity to race the doublehanded 470 presented itself, she jumped at the challenge of a two-person boat and soon connected with crew Sarah Mergenthaler. Although their bid together for the 2004 Games ended with a second-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, they vowed to keep racing together. In 2007, they won the Trials after 16 races, taking first place in a mixed fleet of 470 Men and women contenders.
Being an Olympic sailor means a lot of time away from friends and family and her island home. But for Clark, campaigning for a medal also has great rewards - especially for those she hopes to inspire. "The most rewarding part so far has been qualifying for the Olympic Team, and more importantly, inspiring others to believe in something," she says. "The word Olympics puts a smile on almost every face I see: it is nice to be part of that."
SIGNIFICANT SAILING ACHIEVEMENTS:
- Ranked No. 1 on the US Sailing Team - 470 Women (2005-08)
- Team Alternate/470 Women - 2004 Olympic Games
- At age 15, youngest female sailor to join the US Sailing Team in the Europe class
- ICSA All-American (2000, 2001)
SAILING RESUME:
2008
- 11th 470 World Championships/Melbourne, Australia
2007
- 1st U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Sailing/Long Beach, Calif.
- 3rd 470 North American Championships/Miami, Fla.
- 3rd US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR/Miami, Fla.
- 6th 470 European Championships/Thessalonki, Greece
- 13th ISAF Sailing World Championships/Cascais, Portugal
- 15th HRH Princess Sofia Trophy/Palma de Mallorca, Spain
2006
- 1st US SAILING Pre-Trials/Long Beach, Calif.
- 2nd XI Barcelona Olympic Sailing Week/Spain
- 2nd 470 North American Championships/Miami, Fla.
- 3rd US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR
- 6th HRH Princess Sofia Trophy/Palma de Mallorca, Spain
- 11th 470 World Championships/Rizhao, China
- 13th Semaine Olympique Française/Hyères, France
- 16th The Good Luck Beijing - 2006 Qingdao International Regatta/Qingdao, China
- 27th 470 European Championship/Balaton, Hungary
2005
- 1st US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR
- 2nd 470 North Americans/San Francisco, Calif.
- 8th Kieler Woche (Kiel Week)/Kiel, Germany
- 18th 470 World Championships/San Francisco, Calif.