NEW HAVEN, Conn. – In unprecedented times, Yale University Athletics is rallying together as One Bulldog Nation. While the health and safety of everyone must be at the forefront of every decision, Yale Athletics celebrates the outstanding accomplishments that our winter postseason-qualifying teams and spring programs have made this season. Today we begin honoring the outstanding senior classes of our teams that had their seasons cut short. Here is sailing.
 
Coed and women's sailors were in their annual spring break training session at the University of South Florida when they heard the news: All Ivy League sports had been canceled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. A few hours later, the Intercollegiate Sailing Association followed suit, postponing and then dropping the entire spring championship.
 
Although the team had been discussing the possibility of drastic changes in the days leading up to the announcement, everyone was devastated that the spring season had vanished. Just that morning, McNay Family Director of Sailing Zachary Leonard spoke enthusiastically about the team's unprecedented growth in team racing skills while in Florida, remarking they were weeks ahead of expected developmental trajectory.
 
The news hit the four members of the class of 2020 the hardest. Along with traditional academic and social milestones of senior year, suddenly the chance to compete at the highest level of the sport they loved best had been taken away. While it may be easy to speculate on the potential for success, the unfortunate ending can never diminish seasons of collective effort and triumph over the past four years.
 
The class of 2020, Chrissie Klingler, Dylan DiMarchi, Graceann Nicolosi, and Louisa Nordstrom, has proven to be small but mighty. Since their first year as Bulldogs, they have become invaluable members of the Yale sailing team, playing major roles in garnering consecutive Ivy League titles and multiple national championships, including a top-three sweep of the 2019 nationals that crowned the Bulldogs the reigning champions of the ICSA. 
 
Never ones to hide from the limelight, the four sailors have accumulated five All America selections and nine All-NEISA honors. Furthermore, each senior would have earned ICSA All-Academic honors for their strong performance off the water. This level of accomplishment, skill and genuine friendship in such a small class may be unprecedented. 
 
After the cancellation announcement was made, Leonard and Associate Head Coach Bill Healy asked the team if they wanted to sail one last practice. A rousing "yes" echoed through USF's campus. Although it was not a traditional practice, dotted with crew races and pirated capsizes, every Bulldog left their heart and soul on the race course that day. The sail in culminated with a mega-boat of all four seniors for one last ride as teammates. The rhythm of Yale sailing will shift immensely without these four seniors.
 
Class of 2020 Profiles
 
Chrissie Klingler (Skipper), from Darien, Conn., is double majoring in Applied Math and Economics. Klingler served as the 2019 Women's team captain and was a leader on and off the water, whether guiding a first year through blue booking, playing bananagrams between race days, or rallying teammates' spirits in sub-freezing conditions. She had the uncanny ability to become close with members of every Bulldog class that she overlapped with. In the women's sailing circuit Klingler is widely known for her speed, determination, and fluid shoulder movements that enable her to execute perfectly timed maneuvers. Klingler's laser-focus on the water propelled her to great heights: she competed in national championships every year of her collegiate sailing career and was granted the honors All American, All Academic, and First Team All NEISA skipper in the spring of 2019 championship season, as well as Second-Team All NEISA her sophomore year. Klingler is a talented laser sailor in addition to her prowess in double handed dinghies. She is the first to say that members of the sailing team truly have become her family.
 
Dylan DiMarchi (Skipper), from Honolulu, Hawaii, is double major in Mechanical Engineering and Economics. DiMarchi's signature sense of humor enabled him to guide the team as the 2019 coed captain, providing good natured levity during tumultuous times. He prided himself on always being the first boat on the water - sometimes leaving his crew stranded in the process. DiMarchi has shown he will do anything for his teammates, embodying the credence "sharing is caring" by encouraging his teammates to succeed athletically and academically. He also is a skilled moth sailor, even basing his senior thesis on developing an automatic electromechanical hydrofoil control system for the boat. DiMarchi's undoubtedly unique voice on the team is irreplaceable.
 
Graceann Nicolosi (Crew), from St Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, is an Architecture major who split most of her Yale career between the studio and McNay Center. From the moment she set foot on Yale's campus, Nicolosi completely dedicated herself to the Bulldogs. Her sailing achievements are unparalleled, beginning with a NEISA Rookie of the Year honor her first spring season, followed each year by NEISA Crew of the Year. Nicolosi has been named as a NEISA First-Team Crew every championship season, and has been honored as an All-American for the past three years. During her time at Yale Nicolosi has sailed at every single championship regatta, a feat that is hard to equal. Although she is graduating in May, Nicolosi's long-distance relationship with Yale sailing is sure to last for decades.
 
Louisa Nordstrom (Skipper), is a Swedish native by way of Sarasota, Fla. She is majoring in Cognitive Science with a concentration on decision making. Nordstrom has started as a skipper on the women's team since her first week on campus, sailing B division for the first year and A division for her final three seasons. She is known for being lightning fast on the race course and immensely caring to those around her, often encouraging her crews to mix in a water between sets to stay hydrated. During her time as a Bulldog, Nordstrom has been recognized as a Second-Team All NEISA Skipper her first year and both an All American and First Team All NEISA skipper every year thereafter. In the spring of 2019 championship season, she was a top three finalist for the designation of Women's Sailor of the Year. She has also demonstrated prodigious talent as a laser sailor, qualifying for Women's Singlehanded National Championships three times in her four years. Nordstrom is both feared (on the water) and loved (off the water) by her competitors on the women's sailing circuit. The ever-present smile that always seems to be pasted on her face will surely be missed by the Bulldogs.
 
Assistant coach Martim Anderson will also be leaving Yale Sailing to pursue an MBA. A Portuguese native, Anderson began coaching the Bulldogs after graduating in the class of 2018 from Roger Williams University. A Wilson champion, Anderson's extensive team racing knowledge greatly aided the Yale Team in winning 2019 Laserperfomance Team Race National Championships before the last day of competition had even begun. His grueling devotion to OYO and eagerness to jump in a boat alongside undergraduates was instrumental to the team's success. As the greater Bulldogs circle mourns the spring season being jerked to a premature end, the sailors feel grateful to have been party to Martim's guidance over the past two years.