In what has become the norm for the U.S. sailors at the 2005 Summer World University Games, Anna Tunnicliffe (Norfolk, Va./Old Dominion University/Laser Radial) and Andrew Campbell (San Diego, Calif./Georgetown University/Laser) lead Team USA in another strong showing in Izmir Bay. Much as Campbell did yesterday, Tunnicliffe won today’s first race going away from the competition. She then followed that up with a solid third place finish in the eighth race of the regatta. Despite her impressive sailing today, Tunnicliffe fell one point in the overall standings as Poland’s Katarzyna Szotynska posted a second and first respectively today. A strong second place finish in race seven helped vault Campbell into a tie for first place overall in the competition with Tonko Kuzmanic of Croatia with 20 points if the regatta were to end today. Campbell finished seventh in the final race of the afternoon.

“I feel pretty good,” said Tunnicliffe. “I’m glad that I was able to have two good races. It’s a good confidence builder. I would like to definitely get some more (wins), but I just need to get the Polish girl to finish behind me. We still have four races left so we’ll see what happens.”

On a day reminiscent of the first day of the competition, Campbell again was consistent and posted solid scores.

“A little more breeze made for a change of pace,” said Campbell. “It was actually similar to the first day. The first race went alright. I was fourth on the top mark and then gained and lost and then ended up having a big gain at the last run and ended up finishing up second. I was pretty psyched about the first race. It was a solid finish for the breeze. I’m glad to put that one under my belt. The second race I didn’t have all that great of start. I thought I was in a good spot and I hit a couple of bad waves right off the line. The breeze kind of went the way I didn’t think it would go and it kept going. It was a tough first beat. I think I rounded about 10th for 11th and made small gains the rest of the race and ended up seventh in the race. It’s my worst race of the regatta, but all in all it’s not a bad finish. It’s not a bad day. I just have to see what tomorrow brings and hopefully put together another couple of good finishes and then really make a big push on the last day. Things are starting to shape up nicely.”

USA Head Coach and Team Leader Gary Bodie (Hampton, Va.) added, “It’s really encouraging because we don’t want to be a specialist light wind team. We went out there and showed today that we can go with anybody in the breeze. Anna got a bullet, sailed really well, completely straight ahead, fast upwind, fast downwind. Andrew pulled through with a great first race as well and kind of out of nowhere he passed two boats and, as he usually does, he’s always right there, right there, taking advantage of other people’s mistakes and at the end he had a great race. In the second race we had high hopes. Anna certainly came through with a total keeper with a third. You never win them all and to go out there and get a one, three is a great day even if the competition got a one-two. They’ll just be setting up for the final battle at the end. Andrew’s pair today is going to look solid on the board. He still doesn’t have a double digit (anything out of the top ten), so he’s still in great shape. That’s going to be more than a two-way race at the end. That’s going to be a battle for the finish I think.”

It was a tougher day for Americans Brendan Fahey (Kingston, Wash./University of Washington) and Jenny Gervais (Charleston, S.C./St. Mary’s College of Maryland). Fahey finished 11th and 10th, while Gervais was 17th and 16th.

Sailing competition continues Friday, August 19 at 13:00 with races seven and eight of the regatta at the Karsiyaka Sailing Center. Each competitor races twice daily through August 20 for a total of 12 races (competitors drop the two lowest scores).

Women’s Laser Radial
Overall Standings - Top Three Plus U.S. Finishers
Name (Country)/Current Place/Race Finish & Points
1. Katarzyna Szotynska (Poland): 1-1-(7)-2-6-3-2-1; 16 points
2. Anna Tunnicliffe (USA): 2-4-6-1-(10)-1-1-3; 18 points
3. Tania Elias Calles (Mexico): 3-3-4-(9)-3-7-4-2; 26 points
15. Jennifer Gervais (USA): 17-16-(18)-10-7-14-17-16; 97 points

Men’s Laser
Overall Standings - Top Three Plus U.S. Finishers
Name (Country)/Current Place/Race Finish & Points
1. Andrew Campbell (USA): 3-5-5-3-1-1-2-(7); 20 points
2. Tonko Kuzmanic (Croatia): 4-3-1-2-4-(17)-5-1; 20 points
3. Johann Cechosz (France): 1-1-10-4-3-3-(26/OCS)-4; 26 points
13. Brendan Fahey (USA): 17-18-19-8-(22)-4-11-10; 87 points

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