ODU Alum Anna Tunnicliffe Wins U.S. Olympic Sailing Team Qualifying Regatta

Former ODU All-American and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe '05 is heading back to the Olympics to defend her title at the 2012 London Summer Games after her team won the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team Qualifying Regatta May 7 at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in the United Kingdom.

In a thrilling conclusion to four days of women's match racing, Tunnicliffe (Plantation, Fla.) and her Team Maclaren crew of Molly Vandemoer and fellow ODU alumna Debbie Capozzi '07 (Bayport, N.Y.) won the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Qualifying Regatta by defeating another ODU alumna, Sally Barkow '02 (Nashotah, Wis.) and her Team 7 Match Race crew.

Tunnicliffe defeated Barkow in the "first-to-six-wins" final match-up. With the win, Tunnicliffe, Vandemoer and Capozzi were selected for the 2012 US Olympic Team - Sailing, pending confirmation from the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Capozzi is a 2008 Olympian who sailed in the Women's Keelboat (Yngling) with Barkow.