SAILING NEWS - ANDREW CAMPBELL FIRST WINNER OF LINDA ELIAS SCHOLARSHIP

Feb. 5, 2004 For immediate release

San Diego sailor Andrew Campbell has been chosen to receive the inaugural Linda Elias Sailing Scholarship for 2003 in recognition not only of his achievements but his contributions to the junior program at San Diego Yacht Club and to youth sailing in general.

Campbell, whose 20th birthday was this week, is a sophomore student at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He will receive the award in ceremonies at SDYC on a date to be determined. It will be presented by Betty Sue Sherman, a member of the selection committee and a longtime sailing companion of Elias.

Elias, 52, a member of the Long Beach (Calif.) Yacht Club, died in January of 2003 after a nine-year battle with ovarian cancer. She was a three-time winner of the prestigious Women's One-Design Championship, now renamed in her memory, and helmsman for several Transpacific Yacht Races, as well as many races to Mexico.

Campbell, one of the country's best young Laser sailors, said, "To be honored by something like this is clearly very special. I really am flattered and yet very proud to be a part of the sailing communities that I am in involved in. The San Diego Yacht Club, Georgetown University's team and the US Sailing Team are my three primary ways to enjoy the sport that I love so much and also the easiest ways for me to give back to the sport. My love for the game that we play is certainly an offspring of the great institutions under which I have grown. I am very surprised and proud to be bestowed with such an honor."

According to the Deed of Gift, the purpose of the Linda Elias Sailing Scholarship is "to present grants to individuals who have advanced the sport of sailing by their own accomplishments or by assisting others. This is what Linda Elias represented in doing so much for others. The grants may be presented to students, other foundations, men or women, persons that have fared well with their own accomplishments, have assisted someone else to advance their abilities or have enabled others to experience the sport of sailing."

Campbell qualified on all counts. His nomination noted that "his participation in the junior program at San Diego Yacht Club, not only with his sailing but his coaching and sharing of experience, has enriched the sailing experiences of countless juniors in the program over the last decade."

Also, the nomination continued, "His role on The Bishop's School high school sailing team has elevated its participation from four members in his freshman year to 15 now, two years after his graduation. His participation on the Georgetown University sailing team is beginning to instill some of that same enthusiasm within its membership.

"He has donated numerous lessons to the San Diego Yacht Club Sailing Foundation, coached in many locations on both coasts, [including] at the US Sailing Center in Long Beach and Sail Newport in Newport, R.I. This year he was one of two Laser coaches on the panel at the US Youth Championships. On a smaller scale he recently gave a clinic at the Santa Clara Racing Association's monthly regatta, where he assisted sailors between the ages of 15 and 70.

"His participation in the Youth World Championships of 2000 and 2002, winning in the latter, elevated his status in the eyes of some, but to those at his home club and home waters, he still plays a very intimate role in the betterment of sailing in general.

"He recently completed his Olympic Laser campaign after three years on the US Sailing Team, where he was ranked number one for two years. Even after a disappointment at the U.S. Olympic Trials in November, he sails daily with local high school teams in CFJs and does some Laser sailing on the side."

MEDIA CONTACT
Rich Roberts
(310) 835-2526
richsail@earthlink.net