Page 15 - Kwasind Nov-Dec 2019

JUSTIN BARNES
What a few months it has been!
My teammate and I, Alex Heinzemann of Vancouver, competed in the 2019 Miami World Cup at the end of January and qualified to represent Canada at the 2019 Pan American Games in Peru. After Alex wrapped up his winter semester at university and I finished up my internship at the United Nations, we began training full time again on May 5th in Kingston, Ontario. Our goals for the Pan Am Games were simple but also formidable: to qualify Canada a country berth for the 2020 Olympic Games and to win a medal. With a North American Olympic country berth up for grabs, we needed to be the top North American team and would have to beat a talented US team to do so. With our sights set on those goals, we worked diligently with our fellow Canadian teammates and coach within the resources we had. After a brief but successful warm-up regatta in Kiel, Germany and an effective training camp in breezy San Francisco before heading to Peru, we were feeling excited and nervous but ready to succeed.
On July 25th we touched down in Lima, Peru and our Pan Am Games experience began. It was a pretty amazing feeling being on Team Canada at our first multi-games event with 6700 athletes representing 41 countries from North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean. It was a very proud but also humbling moment for us being able to march into a sold-out stadium with Team Canada at the opening ceremonies (at the very front of the pack!). After the excitement of the opening ceremonies, we were off to our satellite venue in Paracas to begin our final prep for the big event. With thirteen races scheduled
over seven days, the regatta quickly became a mental game. Over the first six races we managed to punch out ahead of the US team with a 5-point gap between us. The US team responded, however, sailing very well over the remaining six races of regular fleet racing, narrowing the gap and setting the stage for an exciting medal race to end the regatta. After twelve races, we ended up in a three-way tie for second place with Argentina, the US, and ourselves going into the final medal race (worth double points and only the top five teams competing).
The medal race could not have been more epic. With medals and the North American Olympic berth on the line in a winner-take-all scenario, the stakes could not have been higher. To add to the drama, the race was run in the highest wind-conditions possible (potentially borderline!). With no team being able to make it around the course without wiping out due to extreme winds, the race quickly became a test to see who could keep their boat upright the longest without capsizing. After leading the race around the first mark and having the entire fleet capsized at a couple different times, we managed to battle our way through the race and capsize in epic fashion across the finish line to finish second behind Argentina and two places ahead of the USA. With that finish in the medal race, we had won the bronze medal and secured one of only nineteen Olympic country berths in the 49er class at the 2020 Olympic Games next summer. These goals that have achieved would not have been possible without the support from the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, Trent University, and the number of people who contributed to our Make-A- Champ fundraising campaign!
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2019 • KWASIND 15
SAILING