GWU Club sailing works to stay afloat

Navigating the winds and waves of the Potomac River, club sailing has continued to find success on the water despite University officials removing the team’s varsity status in 2021.

The University established a varsity sailing program with both women’s and co-ed teams in 2012 after a multiyear push to prove it could find success on the national level. But less than 10 years later, officials cut the program due to COVID-19 headwinds, forcing the student-athletes to run the team themselves.

In 2013, leading up to the team’s second year as a varsity program, the team launched a “Raise High the Sails” campaign in an effort to propel the sailing program into becoming a top Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association program. A year later, the University announced a successful $180,000 fundraising campaign that allowed them to build an 18-boat fleet.

In April of 2019, the women’s team, ranked among the top 10 in the country, competed in their fifth-consecutive ICSA national championship to cap off half a decade as one of the University’s winningest programs. 

During the 2019-20 season, the team’s last with varsity status, the Revolutionaries opened the year with several medalists at the Laser South and Navy Women’s regattas hosted by Navy. A week later, the team clinched gold at the Riley Cup hosted by Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia, beating out 18 other teams. They closed their season finishing eighth out of 10 in the St. Mary’s Team Race in early March. 

Nearly six months after the season concluded, officials cut the sailing program along with six other varsity sports, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to reduce costs. 

https://gwhatchet.com/2024/04/08/club-sailing-works-to-stay-afloat/