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Sailor in the Spotlight Interview - Sarah Mergenthaler

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Boating and Sailing News 29 Jun

Sarah Mergenthaler Olympic Athlete US Sailing Team

In High School, a Jersey Girl named Sarah Mergenthaler lettered in five varsity sports, none of which were sailing. Sarah has been working toward her goal of becoming a world class sailor for most of her life, but that didn't get in the way of all the other sports at which she excelled. These include soccer, track, basketball, cross-country, and (American) football, where this first-string record-setter was the only girl on the varsity team. Clearly Sarah is a true athlete, and her great love is sailing - in just over a month, she'll be putting that love to the test in the 2008 Olympic Games.

While the controversy surrounding the games continues, like the other athletes, Sarah must focus on the competition itself. She and teammate Amanda Clark will be racing the 470 class, and have a good shot at medaling. With the heat, light fluky winds, and comparatively strong currents expected on the course, China is seen as being a tactical dream or nightmare, depending on the tactician, and Sarah says there are no less than 10 teams who could take the gold. That kind of competition spurs on the best of athletes, and Sarah is no exception.

Sailing since she was a baby, and racing both double- and single-handed since she was seven, Sarah comes from a family of salts going at least back to her Great Grandfather. Her father missed out on the boycotted 1980 games, and Sarah is picking up the torch for the family sailing legacy by qualifying for the China Olympics. Having earned a reputation as one of the hardest working teams at the games, Sarah and Amanda have their heads in the race, and their eyes on the podium. With her unfaltering drive, incredible work-ethic, and infectious enthusiasm, Sarah Mergenthaler is this week's Sailor in the Spotlight.

We caught up with Sarah at her home in New Jersey.

Sarah Mergenthaller ready for the Olympics YP: First of all, Congratulations on making the 2008 US Olympic Team!
SM: Thank You! It's pretty much a dream come true, so we're just totally excited. There's only 45 days to go before the opening ceremonies [now 41], so it... it's coming up fast.

YP: When did you start sailing?
SM: I had dinner with my parents last night, and I said "you know, I can't even remember the first time I was sailing," and my Mom said "that's because you were three months old." But the first time I can remember sailing, was when I was five years old, with my Dad, and I started racing when I was seven years old.

YP: Was that on an Optimist?
SM: No, actually, I raced with my Dad in the Albacore, which is a very small, 11-12', two person boat. I grew up sailing on a river on the Jersey shore, and they had a fleet of these boats. So I would go out and crew with my Dad. Because, basically, to be fast, you had to find the lightest crew available. So, you know - 7 years old, I weighed about 40-50 pounds, so I fit the bill. I got my first Optimist when I was seven, also, and I started racing it that the same year.

YP: Obviously, then, your parents were really into sailing?
SM: Actually it's all on my Dad's side of the family, and it goes back for generations and generations. Lots of people say that there must be saltwater in our blood, because we all have 'the itch.' My Dad actually was in the process of trying for the Olympic team in 1980 - in the Fin class - then the US obviously boycotted those games, so he never got his chance.

Sarah Mergenthaler Olympian YP: I hear you were quite an athlete in High School.
SM: When I was in High School, I was actually really focusing on soccer. Somewhere around 8th grade, my coach talked to me and said "have you ever thought about playing in college?" And I said "no, actually I hadn't thought of that, you know I'm only 14 years old." [laughing]

So in in High School I focused mainly on soccer, and that also meant that sailing fell a little by the wayside. I just did local regattas, and I was coaching some kids in the Summer to make some money, but really I was just playing lots and lots of soccer. All the other sports I did in high school almost happened by default, because I wanted to make sure I stayed in shape and stayed good on the soccer field. Really, though, I'll play any sport I can get my hands on. I love competing, I actually love practice as much as the game. It's all so much fun for me, and it's carried over into sailing also.

YP: I understand it also carried over into the [American] football field, is that right?
SM: [laughing] That actually started because I was in the weight room. It was my sophomore year, and there were a couple guys from the football team who I was pretty good friends with, and we kind of got in this friendly debate about kickers. They said "well, you know, soccer players don't know what it's like to kick a football."

And I said: "I think you guys are wrong. A soccer ball is always moving, always bouncing, always taking unexpected movements on the ground. The football: first of all it's in the shape of your foot, and secondly, there's somebody holding it for you. How hard could it be?"

YP: And you went on to become the only girl on the football team?
SM: Yeah, and then when I hit my first field goal, I became the first girl in New Jersey to convert an extra point in a Varsity football game. Nobody saw me as a girl, they just saw me as the kicker.

Sarah Mergenthaler Olympic Athlete

YP: It's interesting that you say that. As we know in the Olympics, there are separate Men's and Women's classes. Do you think that will ever change?
SM: One of the suggestions for 2012 is to have an open, co-ed boat. It would probably most likely be a two-person boat, and one of the people on board would have to be a woman. I think that's really exciting, and I think if there is a sport that could handle that it's sailing. I believe that sailing could bring the first co-ed sport outside of the equestrian events to the Olympics.

YP: We're concerned whether there will be a future for Olympic sailing at all, what with the lack of promotion, support and media coverage. Of course for us, sailing is the coolest sport in the Olympic Games.
SM: I'm not just saying this because it's my sport, but I truly believe it is the most complex, fascinating, intricate Olympic sport. I mean, beyond the racing, and the tactics, there's everything with boat speed. For instance, we're testing softer top battens to see what can open the sail more for going down wind in the light, choppy water in Qingdao. And beyond that, I mean there's all the boat work. You know we're basically our own pit crew, our own logistics team - there're so many components that go into it. Physical, mental, tactical - O.K., everyone knows that - but there are so many technological things that are going on behind the scenes - [laughing] there's just so much to it - it's unbelievable!

YP: And there's no Olympic sport so dependent on the weather.
SM: Right. You can't change Mother Nature; the sailors have to be able to adapt to almost an infinite number of different conditions. The truth is you could sail some place for 100 days, and each day is going to be a little bit different. You'll never have the same exact sailing even twice in that 100 days. It's really part of the sport to be good at everything, and that's what makes it so darned hard!

Sarah Mergenthaler Olympic Athlete YP: So we know you're competitive, but what else do you think is the secret to your success?
SM: I'm not afraid to put in the hours. There's no substitute for the hard work. I tell my students that if you have a couple of hours in the afternoon, just say "I'm going to go out and do a hundred tacks, and then do a hundred gybes on the way back in." Really, there's no substitute for time in the boat and just nailing the maneuvers - getting your boat work down so that during the race, you can just think about the race, and the boat maneuvering becomes almost second nature.

YP: What else do you tell your students? Or better yet, what do you have to say to anyone looking to become an Olympian?
SM: The opportunities are out there, and I would definitely say if that is a goal of your's to become an Olympic athlete: First of all, don't let anyone tell you it's ridiculous, because it's not. But you've also got to be really ready to work hard. And you're going to have to give up certain things you want to do, like: going on vacation, or going to a family wedding, or going to a party that you really wanted to go to, if that means that's what it's gonna take so that you can continue sailing. There will be tough choices to make, but if you're willing to work hard, the opportunities are out there.

Sarah Mergenthaler Olympics

- Kim Hampton for YachtPals | Photos by Rick Roberts/US SAILING and Mergenthaler.

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Submitted By YachtPals on 29 Jun

Sailor, Sarah Mergenthaler, Olympics, Amanda Clark, Olympic, Olympic Games, Summer Olympics, China Olympics, US Olympic team, olympic team, athlete

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