470 SAILORS IN TOKYO 2020 OLYMPICS

2012 was a big year for them, marking a huge chapter in our lives: they have started sailing the 420 together. With Pedro's experience, and a lot of work, they managed to qualify for the Worlds and the Junior Europeans. The following year they kept the rhythm and qualified for both events again, but the results weren't good enough, so they wanted more. In October 2014, they had the opportunity to start training with the coach of the same year's World Champions, Lorenzo de Felice. That was another big marker in their careers; the team was an excellent one and the results started showing. The next couple of years were really good for them: they were Portuguese champions twice (2015/16), top 5 in some of the most important regattas in the European circuit, and topped it off being World Champions in 2016.

The 2016 worlds were their last 420 championship, because they started sailing the 470 later the same year. The 470 class has a lot of history in Portugal: it is the last Portuguese sailing medal at the Olympics and it was sailed by some of our heroes (such as Hugo Rocha, Nuno Barreto, Miguel Nunes and Álvaro Marinho). After hard training, with a lot of good teams, they finished 11th at the Europeans. This was a great result for them, but it came with an injury. Pedro got injured in the knee and had to stop sailing for 3 months. After this forced break, they came back and the rollercoaster started for them. 2017 and 2018 were hard years for them, for many different reasons, and they ended up losing themselves a little bit. In 2019, however, they regrouped and found their path, and they've been working on it ever since. This work led them to finish 4th at the youth worlds in 2019, top 5 in most regattas in Lanzarote, 2^nd at the Worlds in 2021 and, best of all, it led us to qualify Portugal, and themselves, for the Olympic Games.

Hannah has been at the top of the 470 women's fleet since 2011. A two time World Champion, and Silver and Gold medallist in 2012 and 2016, Hannah has had a very succesful quad with Eilidh, winning the 2019 Worlds and finishing 2nd and 3rd at the 2017 and 2018 Worlds, in addition to two 2nd places at the 2018 and 2019 Europeans. Definitely one of the main contenders for a medal in Enoshima.

LT Nikole ‘Nikki’ Barnes was born and raised on St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where she started sailing Optimists at age 6. She competed in several Optimist National, Continental and World Championships, then skippered the International 420 where she earned a Bronze Medal at the ISAF Youth Worlds in Zadar, Croatia in 2011. Nikki also sailed Club 420’s on the Antilles School Sailing Team. The team enjoyed several podium finishes in U.S. High School Team and Fleet Racing championships. During her four years at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Nikki received three-time All-American skipper honors. She was named Quantum Women’s Sailor of the Year in 2006. After graduation and commissioning as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard in 2017, Nikki received a Special Support Billet to train for the Olympics while stationed in Miami, Florida. She is the first active-duty U.S. Coast Guard Officer – male or female, to qualify for the Olympics – in any sport. Nikki is a member of the St. Francis Yacht Club and St. Thomas Yacht Club. Fun fact: Nikki’s childhood nickname is ‘Noodles’ and her favorite foods are candy and kale.

Lara Dallman-Weiss was born and raised in Shoreview, MN, where she started sailing in Optimists at age 6. She then moved on to crewing for her father on a Johnson 18 and then skippering X boats, an inland-lake youth boat, at age 12 with friends in regattas on White Bear Yacht Club. A star athlete in several land-based sports such as basketball and running, specifically she was a True Team State champion and State champion in the 800-meter and 1-mile events, Lara passed up a collegiate track scholarship in favor of attending Eckerd College, in Florida. Here, she was a captain and a four-year member of the sailing team, including three-time skipper and crew of the year honors. In 2013, she was selected as a member of the U.S. Sailing Olympic Development Team in the 470. Lara is a proficient crew in big boats as well, earning North American champion in the Farr 40 class. She is also a member of the White Bear Lake Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club. Fun facts: Lara is left-handed and was born in a snowstorm.

A mutual friend introduced Nikki and Lara in early 2018 in Miami. At the time, Lara was nearby on the water flying drones and after a quick phone call, she zipped over to where Nikki was training. The two got in the 470, sailed together for about an hour and were both pleased to find they were both in search of the same thing: a perfectly sailed boat. They agreed to hire an Olympic-level coach for a day to analyze their ability, whereupon he told them they meshed perfectly as a team. Next, wanting to make sure the fit was well thought out before Lara quit work, both women attended a U.S. Sailing Team 470 clinic where Nikki was able to get confirmation from several coaches to go forth with the idea to sail as a team. What has made Nikki and Lara, Team Perfect Vision Sailing, come together so quickly is the past racing experience they both hold individually, their ideal physical size, and the desire to train relentlessly. On March 12, 2021, at the 470 World Championships in Vilamoura, Portugal, Nikki and Lara qualified as the U.S. Sailing Team and Team USA’s Women’s 470 Team for the 2020 (2021) Summer Olympics in Tokyo.