Olympic windsurfing

NBC's Olympic coverage certainly has brought us the big names like Michael Phelps and....well, Michael Phelps. Is there anyone else?

Well, for us windsurfers, our big names are Ben Barger and Nancy Rios. They are representing the U.S. in the RS:X Windsurfing Class. RS:X is the chosen one design class of windsurfing racing for the Olympics. The boards are wide, stable, and have an adjustable centerboard for lighter winds, but is also shaped to perform well in stronger winds.

RS:X Windsurfing Video


Ben and Nancy don't appear to be in medal contention but are representing the U.S. with class. They have interesting backgrounds. For example, Nancy is a first generation American who helped raised her siblings. U.S. Olympic sailing and windsurfing hopefuls aren't given a ton of resources for their training, relative to what the other countries are providing to their competing sailors. Our sailors have to raise most of the funds required for training on their own.




Ben is posting his Olympic experience here. And here is a video of his journey to the Olympics:





Nancy is posting her Olympic experience here.

You can keep up with all the Olympic sailing results here.

Thanks to the International Sailing Federation for the top two pictures. The picture of Nancy (USA8) is from her web site. You can see more pictures here.