STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford sailing begins its national title hunt with a pair of upcoming opportunities, as the Cardinal will compete in the ICSA Open Team Race Championship (April 24-26) and ICSA Women's Team Race Championship (April 27-28).
Stanford brought home a pair of national championships last season, winning both the ICSA Women's Team Race and the Women's Fleet Race titles.
LAST TIME OUT » Stanford completed the conference sweep this past weekend, winning the PCCSC Open Fleet Race Championship on Sunday in a regatta that came down to the final race.
The Cardinal won five races across both divisions over the weekend to win the event with 60 team points, just three points ahead of runner-up UC Santa Barbara (63) and eight points over third-place Hawai'i (68).
"The team battled it out against two very good UCSB and Hawai'i teams, with the regatta going down to the last race," assistant coach Shawn Harvey said. "It was unique to see this college sailing have a one-sided race course, and the team learned a lot about strategy relating to such a course."
Skippers Lucas Woodworth and Dylan Sih handled "A" division duties alongside crew Ava Cornell and Ally Jones, winning races two and five en route to 32 points, good for third place in the division behind Hawai'i (20 points) and UC Santa Barbara (31 points).
Thomas Whidden skippered the "B" boat to a division-best 28 points, with Caroline Geiger and Amiya Stroumza serving as crew. The trio accounted for three race wins and five top-three finishes to best UC Santa Barbara (32 points) and USC (33 points)
FALL RECAP » A successful fall season saw the Cardinal win eight of the 19 regattas on the slate. Most notably, won PCCSC titles in the Match Race, Singlehanded, Women's Fall, and Open Championships.
The Cardinal also earned regatta wins in the Women's ACC Round 1, the Captain Hurst Bowl, Women's ACC Finals, the Open ACC Championship, and the Top-9 invite.
Stanford's accomplished fall was rewarded by a No. 1 fall ranking in both the Open and Women's division, as decided by Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA). ICSA rankings are voted and decided on by a panel of ICSA head coaches.
LAST SEASON » Stanford cemented itself as the best women’s sailing program in the nation in 2024, completing the sweep of the ICSA Women’s Team and Fleet Race Championships, also becoming back to back champions in the Women’s Fleet.
Stanford’s fall season began with eight regatta wins. Along with the success on the water, the Cardinal sailors also celebrated their 2023 trophies, as the team received its championship rings at a football game.
Stanford picked up right where it left off to start the spring season, winning six straight regattas. The Cardinal went on to claim four conference championship trophies, taking both the women and open divisions of the team and fleet races.
To cap off the season before Nationals began, Stanford claimed the PCCSC Open Team Race title and the Thompson trophy over the same weekend. The Cardinal went 38-1 across the two events to take the wins in a conference championship and a premier interconference trophy.
The Cardinal then headed to the Charles River where it competed in four straight national championships hosted by MIT. In the first regatta, Stanford earned a top five finish, taking fifth place in the ICSA Open Team Race. The result was Stanford's sixth straight top-five finish, dating back to 2018.
Directly following the open team race, Stanford captured its first title of the 2024 spring season. The Cardinal took the trophy in dominant fashion, as Stanford sailed to an 18-1 record to top the field at the ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship.
In the following national championship event, Stanford claimed yet another title. The Cardinal took its second straight ICSA Women's Fleet Race title and its fifth national title overall, topping the field on the Charles River in Massachusetts.
The title was Stanford's fourth national title in the last calendar year (2023 - ICSA Women's Fleet, ICSA Open Fleet; 2024 - ICSA Women's Team, ICSA Women's Fleet). The Cardinal also won multiple national titles in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history.
Following Stanford's dominant performance in the national championships, the Cardinal took home plenty of individual accolades.
Vanessa Lahrkamp was named the Quantum Women's College Sailor of the Year, the second in program history as Lahrkamp joins her sister who earned the accolade in 2020. Vanessa Lahrkamp was instrumental in leading Stanford to the ICSA Women's Team and Fleet Race titles in 2024, also earning the title of PCCSC Women's Skipper of the Year.
Vanessa Lahrkamp also earned two All-America awards, claiming a nod as an ICSA Women's Skipper All-American and an ICSA Open Skipper Honorable Mention selection. It's the second straight year Lahrkamp was honored in both the Women's and Open divisions.
Michelle Lahrkamp also earned two All-America awards for the second straight season, being named both an ICSA Women's Skipper and Open Skipper All-American.
Hannah Freeman earned her second consecutive ICSA Women's Skipper All-America award while Thomas Sitzmann joined the Lahrkamp sisters with an ICSA Open Skipper All-America nod.
Stanford also had three crews named All-Americans. Alice Schmid, Ellie Harned, and Gwendolyn Donahue were each named All-America Crews after their dominant performances led Stanford to two national titles.