New Year, Similar Me
The first 6 weeks of 2023 gave me my first taste of what it is like to be a full time athlete. Countless hours on the water and in the gym all in an effort to improve myself on the international scale, and prepare for the first two events of the year in Florida.
These two events carried a heavy weight, as whichever athlete performed best between the two was selected to go to the Olympic Test Event in Marseille this July, the World Championship in August, and the Pan-American Games in October. For me, these events were the most important events I have ever done.
The Miami regatta tested the fleets ability in a range of conditions from barely foiling in 6 knots to full power racing in 20+ knots. I was on my A game this regatta and managed to sail the event without losing a race, my first time ever accomplishing this on the IQFoil. This meant I had not only the win in the regatta, but the lead in the selection going into the final event in Clearwater.
I was born and raised in Clearwater, and still reside there to this day, so it felt really different and fun to sail in my own backyard (as well as sleep in my own bed). It also meant I put an immense amount of pressure on myself going into the regatta because I felt like I had so much to lose. This pressure only grew with us not racing the first two days. This meant that each race would carry significantly more weight, and there was far less room for error. Going into the first day of racing on the third day of a four day event was nerve-wracking to say the least.
The first day of racing, we accomplished 7 races. It was by far the longest day of windsurf racing I have ever had. I sailed a clean day all until the last race, where I pushed it to hard on the line, and was disqualified from race 7 for being early. In the video below, my teammate Alex and I are the furthest away (and in front). We were OCS by less than a quarter of a second.
This landed me in second place, within 3 points of first, third, and fourth going into the final day of racing. In the position I was in, I was winning the selection despite being in second place at the regatta. Although I was achieving my goal, I didn’t just want the selection, I wanted to win the regatta also.
The final day of the event gave us extremely light and tricky conditions. I sailed a good first race and won, which I knew put me tied on points with first place. At the end, we tried for two more races, but both attempts were abandoned due to lack of wind. In the end, I was in a tie for first, and won the tie break due to my consistency throughout the regatta. This meant that not only did I win the Clearwater OCR, but I won the selection for the Test Event, Pan-American Games, and the 2023 Worlds!
Following the event, I spent some amazing time off with loved ones, but now it is time to get back to work. I leave for Spain to continue training, and there I will compete in 3 different regattas to test my skills on the international field as a full time athlete.
None of this would be possible without the support everybody has given me thus far, and continue to provide. Thank you all for allowing me to live my dream, and work to become one of the best windsurfers to ever come out of the United States.
Best
Noah Lyons
