SANTA CRUZ, CA — John Lovell and Charlie Ogletree have filled the sole Tornado spot on the US Olympic Team, winning the Olympic Trials for the Tornado Class in the waters off Santa Cruz, CA. The pair proved themselves the best of the 18-strong fleet, and qualified to make the trip to Sydney, Australia, for the 2000 Olympic Games scheduled for September 16 to October 1.
Trial standings mandated the team of Guck and Schaffer finish ahead of Lovell and Ogletree to make the cut. Light winds postponed the start on Sunday. With less than an hour to go before the time limit for starting a race expired, eight to nine knots of wind materialized. When it was all said and done though, a third-place finish was good enough for the Lovell and Ogletree team to build a 20-point overall finish. Guck and Schaffer posted fourth, trailing with 22 points overall. Lovell and Ogletree have experience in the Olympic venue, having sailed in the 1996 Olympics in Savannah, GA, and will continue to train in the hopes of bettering their eighth place finish.