Alums Hutchinson and Tunnicliffe Named Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year

Old Dominion University alumni Terry Hutchinson ('90) and Anna Tunnicliffe ('05) have been named U.S. Sailing's 2008 Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year.

Established in 1961 by U.S. Sailing and sponsored by Rolex Watch U.S.A. since 1980, the awards recognize the outstanding on-the-water competitive achievement of an individual man and woman in the calendar year just concluded. Hutchinson and Tunnicliffe will be honored and presented with specially engraved Rolex timepieces during a luncheon on Feb. 27 at the New York Yacht Club in Manhattan.

Hutchinson, of Annapolis, Md., first learned to sail at age 3 in a Dyer Dhow that was attached by a line to his parents' Concordia yawl. Going back and forth on the end of that line set him on a course to be a star at ODU, where he earned Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association (ICSA) All-America honors four times (1987-90) and was twice recognized as College Sailor of the Year (1989 and 1990). The 40-year-old father of three will next be in action aboard the Farr 40 Barking Mad at the Acura Key West Race 2009.

The 26-year-old Tunnicliffe, of Plantation, Fla., won the Olympic gold medal in Laser Radial sailing at the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2005, she was named the Quantum Female College Sailor of the Year. That recognition capped her collegiate sailing career at ODU, where she earned ICSA All-America honors three straight years (2003-05). Tunnicliffe, who said she hopes to win another gold medal, first came to national attention in 1997 as the youngest skipper, at age 14, in U.S. Sailing's Rolex International Women's Keelboat Championship.