Katie and David are doing all the right things to make a big splash on their way to Rio2016! As teenage athletes there are a lot of distractions in our lives. School, grades, thinking about college, relationships, parents, parties, having “fun”, hanging out and goofing off are just a few of them but to become the best of the best in a world dominated by by competitors in their 30’s Katie and David have to make some sacrifices in their every day lives.
To reach their goals, Katie and David have to do all the right things!
Thats not all that difficult for these two aspiring champions, making the decision to mount a challenge for the US Olympic Team at the ages of 17 and 16, Katie and David understand that many of the “shinny objects” that their peers often focus on to make it through the monotony of their teenage years a little less stressful only keep them from their Olympic goal. These two are up to the task!
Doing all the right things isn’t really all that difficult for these youth sailors because they both love to sail. They love the freedom, the sea, the challenge of it all! They sail a lot, but sailing is what they do for fun so it is more like playing a game than anything else.
Sailing is the fun part, but there is much more that these athletes have to do all the right things every day to make it to the top. To start with, they are training full time on top of being a senior and junior in highschool. We all know that getting into the best colleges requires students to be focused and work hard in high school, so this is absolutely a priority for both of the teens. Beyond school, these two teenagers workout in the US Sailing Team Fitness Center 7 days a week. Following a fitness and injury prevention program laid out by the US Sailing Team’s head trainer and physical therapist, their program is designed to give them both the strength and agility they need to be at the top of their game at the years most important regattas. They also find time to climb onto their boat nearly 5 days a week, and handle all their own boat maintenance and fundraising to boot!
When these two get home at night, they often don’t have the energy to do much more than make sure their schoolwork is done and then hit the bed for much needed rest…so they can do it all over the next day.
“Being so focused on an Olympic Campaign as a teenager does have it’s disadvantages” Says David Hein; “I don’t have interaction with kids my age at school, and there are no other athletes our age training for the Olympics so our peers at practice are practically old enough to be our parents.” David is a junior in the Florida Virtual School, handling all of his classwork online in an effort to maximize his time on the water. He continues “Sailing has given me the opportunity to meet hundreds of kids my age that are sailing at their local clubs, on their HS sailing teams and at clinics around the country. The friendships I have made in boatparks, and the people that are constantly commenting on our Twitter accounts mean a lot to me and help me to get out of bed each morning so I can show everyone that teenagers can accomplish anything they are willing to work hard for.” He concluded with “I get invited to speak at highschools, colleges and yacht clubs around the country to share the story of my competitive sailing, and I am always blown away when people come up and tell me that they love reading our blog and twitter and that they are inspired by what Katie and I are doing. Each one of those people are going to help us win the Gold Medal and so it will be a victory for us all.”
Katie and David are focused exclusively on the ISAF World Cup Miami regatta in January, which is the annual qualifying event for the US Sailing Team Sperry Top Sider. Their training both on and off the water, and their fundraising are all focused on providing the equipment (new sails), coaching and support they need to be at the top of the fleet in Miami com January. All in all, Katie and David are doing all the right things to make a mark on this sport, and each and every person that sends them goodwill and inspirational comments helps to push them ever closer to Rio in 2016!
If you can, please support the Teen Sailing Team fulfill their mission and empower this entire generation of sailors by donating money to their campaign. Even a $10 contribution goes a long way towards their campaign! Thanks for helping them beat the fleet!
The team’s Twitter is FollowMeToRio
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