Sail Canada – Sail Canada announces today that Jacob and Graeme Saunders (Chester, NS) have qualified for Rio 2016 in the men’s two-person 470 boat.

Jacob (Helm) and Graeme (Crew) teamed up in the double-handed boat in 2009, qualifying for the National team in 2013. The sibling duo have been campaigning for Rio for over 5 years, making continuous progress on the international sailing stage. In January 2016, Team Saunders finished a career high 7^th at the Sailing World Cup – Miami and secured a country berth for Canada.

Jacob and Graeme competed at the 2015 Olympic Test Event last August and look forward to getting back on the water in Brazil as soon as possible. “ We’ll shift our focus to training in Rio right after Weymouth World Cup, getting to know the venue better and working hard to ensure we perform our best at the Games this summer.”

The Saunders team qualification brings the total count up to 8 Canadian sailors punching their ticket to Rio.  Graeme and Jacob will be nominated to the Canadian Olympic Committee alongside teammates Tom Ramshaw (Finn) Brenda Bowskill (Laser Radial), Nikola Girke and Luke Ramsay (Nacra 17) and Erin Rafuse and Danielle Boyd (49erFX). The Canadian trials continue for the remaining Olympic hopefuls through until the end of Weymouth World Cup in Dorset, UK in early June.

Prior to being named to the final Canadian Rio 2016 Team, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by Sail Canada.

Contact Information:
Colleen Coderre
Communications Manager
Sail Canada

colleen@sailing.ca