Tim
Wadlow

Athlete Bio#

Age

Hometown

Beverly, MA

Education

Torrey Pines High School Boston University (Graduated 1997)

49er skipper Tim Wadlow returns in 2008 for his second Olympic regatta. Onboard his 49er will be new crew Chris Rast, a veteran who has skippered two Olympic regattas and coached one. While the recipe of personalities will be different onboard, Wadlow still considers the 2004 Games the foundation of a longer experiment.

"Every campaign is different," says Wadlow, "but I think your first Olympics is an eye-opening experience...Coming back the second time, there are a lot of things I'll do differently for a better finish. We were proud of our fifth-place last time, so the motivation for this campaign is to better that finish."

An engineer by training, Wadlow takes an analytical approach to something as mythical as Olympic gold - but that approach is what he considers his edge. "I am a pretty methodical person, so as far as preparation and training goes I take a logical, methodical, disciplined approach toward achieving a goal."

For the next Olympic Games, that approach is targeted at the cycle of an Olympian's life - the ability to time training and talent to peak at the right moment.

"There are a lot of details around equipment and fitness and mental preparation, to peak at the right time," says Wadlow. "That is one of the big challenges of the whole Olympic cycle...I've learned a lot about how to peak for those big events, how to have your equipment and your fitness and your preparation and your technique all come together to have the best possible result."

Wadlow and Rast's timing was right for the Trials - they won the 49er berth by nine points after 24 races. They also took a fifth at the 49er Worlds in Australia in January 2008.

When he has time off from Olympic training, Wadlow heads to the water to go team racing. A three-time collegiate All-American, he admits that the fast-paced, tactical game of team racing is a pressure cooker, "But it's fun," says Wadlow. "I like the challenge, plus I get to sail with my wife and good friends."

Wadlow stepped into a 49er for the first time in 1998; a few months later, he was on the starting line of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the 2000 Games. His goal, he says, was to gain experience in this challenging craft. "It's a humbling boat," Wadlow says of the 49er. "When you start out, you spend a lot of time upside down, and the good guys who know how to sail them are legs ahead."

Wadlow is now one of the masters in this class, and he's spent more time in the 49er in the past four years than in any other boat. Based on his methodical planning for the Games, he and Rast are pacing themselves to reach a peak performance again next August - as one of the top 49er teams at the 2008 Olympic Games.

SIGNIFICANT SAILING ACHIEVEMENTS