The word on the grapevine is that a spark flew out of the torch at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, drifted down to Texas and lit Paul Foerster's fire for Olympic Gold again. Could it be true? After a nice landing from the '92 Olympics with a Silver Medal, a return to full time engineering in 1993, a happy wedding in 1994, a Gold Medal in the Pan-American Games in 1995, and two JY-15 North American championship titles in 1995 and 1996, why pour on the sweat again? Why not lead a normal life... ? Because, Paul is not normal.
It is true fellow sailors at RCYC. Paul Foerster is on the track again to heat up the Olympic competition in the year 2000. Who cares if they wiped out the Flying Dutchman from the Olympic Classes? This is just another opportunity for a man who thrives on learning the intricate details of fast motion in any sailing craft. The 470 was the logical choice for Paul. To fast-foward the learning curve in this new class, Paul selected the cream of the crop in team mates to reach the Gold; our very own Bill Draheim.
As many of you know, Bill mounted his own Olympic 470 campaign in 1988 and in spite of several first-place finishes in the Trials, finished third overall. In his vigorous years of training, Bill was named to the U.S. Sailing Team three times and a fourth time after the Trails. To qualify for the U.S. Sailing team, a national ranking in the top five in your class is required.
Bill's accomplishments in sailing started in 1977 when he became a finalist in the US Junior Singlehanded Championship (Smythe Cup). In 1983, while attending the University of Texas, he was named Collegiate All-American and this was the road that would lead him to be an Olympic hopeful.
Since 1988, titles such as U.S. Championship of Champions, J/22 Southwest Circuit Champion, Thistle National Champion, C-15 National Champion, J/22 North American Champion and finalist in the US Rolex Yachtsman of the Year have all been earned by Bill. Paul says to pick an Olympic team mate you must find someone who is better than yourself. He considers Bill's knowledge and skills in the 470 to eclipse his own and hopes that as a team they will be the unstoppable force that finds Gold in Sydney, Australia in the year 2000.
In their early months of testing the 470 competition, they have managed to capture two second places in two major regattas so far: The Canadian Olympic Classes Regatta in Toronto and the Barrington Olympic Classes Regatta in Rhode Island. Many, MANY THANKS to Stephanie and Kurt Read for donating American Advantage miles for Bill and Paul to get to the Rhode Island competition.
So the rumor is true and the journey begins. Be sure to keep yourself up to date on the handy Internet web page designed especially for Team 2000 (aka Foerster/Draheim) by none other than techno-geek Jeff Kerr (thanks Jefster!). The address is: www.rcyc.org/team_2000.
If you know someone who is available to spend some time researching flights, boat transport, or making arrangements, please call Carrie Foerster at (972) 203-9190. There are plenty of opportunities for Creekers to join in the campaign fun (we'll let the boys sweat the hard stuff) and hopefully we will be able to celebrate their successes together along the way!
Sponsors are also needed to help defray the costs of an Olympic campaign. If you know of a potential corporate or individual sponsor, please contact Carrie. All donations are tax deductible.
Carrie Foerster
