Born August 15, 1988, Sarah Lihan grew up in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where, like so many others, her parents put her on a boat at a tender age. After spending a few years teething on jib sheets, they enrolled her in Lauderdale Yacht Club’s summer sailing program. There, she learned to right her Opti in the diving well of the club’s pool and discovered what rapidly became her life’s passion. At first it was just fun times goofing off with her buds, but her innate competitiveness soon surfaced – and then it was even more fun goofing off while racing against her best friends. The Opti was fun for a blessed short time, but its square sides couldn’t contain Sarah’s genetics for long. By age twelve, at a gangly 5’10” and 115 lbs, she was forced to abandon her beloved USA 7177 in search of bigger and pointier boats.
Junior Olympics 1999, Jensen Beach, FL
Fortunately, there were a few Lasers lying around LYC, and Sarah spent the next few years beating around in her father’s blue-hulled racing machine from the 1970’s. After matriculating at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, she spearheaded the establishment of the sailing team, bringing together determined parents and a few sailing-friendly faculty. While sailing was always her first love, in high school Sarah also proved her athletic mettle in the pool, earning four varsity letters on the Aquinas swim team. As the approach of college forced Sarah to choose just one aquatic pursuit, she couldn’t resist the pull of salt water, wind and waves– and she’s never looked back. Excellent grades and a first-class sailing resume helped her through the college application process. Drawn by the steep traditions of the University and the legendary waters off the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club, Sarah applied early action to Yale in the fall of 2005 and soon became a Bulldog.
While Sarah pursued her high school and collegiate sailing career, she was also sowing the seeds that led her into Olympic sailing. As a high school sophomore, Sarah competed in the 2004 Olympic Trials, held in Fort Lauderdale that February. With her mother running the regatta and her father acting as PRO, Sarah was fortunate to have the perfect support system in place. Meg Gaillard, who went on to represent the US at the Games, lent Sarah one of her training boats, and the stage was set for her to learn a few lessons. That she did—the nine day event taught her quite a bit about what it means to be a campaigner, and where the differences really lie. Despite the occasional indignities of flipping, tacking forwards, and mistaking the inhaul for the outhaul, Sarah emerged with a lot more bruises, a bit more experience, and an insatiable desire for more. Her finish at the Trials qualified her for the 2004 Europe Dinghy World Championships, to be held in Sardinia, Italy, just a few weeks before the Games. With the full support of her yacht club and family, off she went. The competition was stiff, and the 35 knot mistral kept things interesting, but Sarah pushed through to place respectably in Silver fleet. She left Italy in awe of the experience, dedication, and athleticism of the top girls, and resolved to one day be the one atop the podium.
Olympic Trials 2004, Fort Lauderdale, FL
ISAF’s 2004 decision to switch from the Europe to the Laser Radial was a favorable one for Sarah as the boat is the perfect match for her natural athleticism and not inconsiderable height. Suddenly, she was no longer torn between the boat she loved and the boat she raced– Sarah could focus on the boat to which she had already devoted so many years. The Olympic Pre-Trials and Trials, held in Newport, RI in October 2006 and 2007 respectively, were pivotal moments in her path towards the Olympics. Training with then-future Gold medalist Anna Tunnicliffe before the event, Sarah began to take her sailing to the next level– to not just sail at an international level, but to sail to win. Placing third at both events, she saw both how close she could be and just how much work and learning lay ahead.
Olympic Trials 2008, Newport, RI
These experiences led Sarah to commit herself fully to the cause of Radial sailing—every minute she wasn’t racing dinghies in college she spent training for or competing on the Olympic circuit. In the fall and the spring, she raced every weekend for Yale, learning the intricacies of shifty doublehanded dinghy sailing and what it meant to be a team player. But in the winter and summer, it was back to her original testing grounds in the Radial. Each winter, Sarah juggled the demands of her courseload with time spent on the water training and racing in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Clearwater for the Florida leg of the circuit. Each summer, she shipped off to various international locales—Portugal, Belgium, Germany, England, Scotland, Denmark, and Japan—to compete in as many Grade 1 events as the break in her academic schedule would permit. As she continued racing, her scores improved, culminating in a number of Grade 1 top twenty finishes, with a highlight 16th place finish at the 2009 World Championships.
Team USA towing out at the 2009 World Championship, Karatsu, Japan
Today, Sarah is better prepared, more skilled, and more determined than ever. She’s combined the lessons she’s learned from international sailing with the irreplaceable skills only four years of college sailing can hone. Competing every weekend against the finest young sailors in the country, Sarah proved herself up to the challenge, helping the team to a win at the ICSA Women’s Nationals as both a sophomore and junior, as well as taking home collegiate All-American honors her senior year.
While Sarah has moved far beyond that fateful yacht club pool, her contagious love of sailing – and indomitable drive to win – remain unchanged. With her studies behind her for now, Sarah has devoted herself full-time to the pursuit of big waves, big breeze, and Olympic Gold in 2012.