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Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Sailing | Snow Named College Sailor of the Year

COURTESY SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING NEWS Junior Nevin Snow finally earned the College Sailor of the Year Award in his third consecutive All-American season.
COURTESY SCUTTLEBUTT SAILING NEWS
Junior Nevin Snow finally earned the College Sailor of the Year Award in his third consecutive All-American season.

Junior Nevin Snow first put on a Georgetown uniform three seasons ago, and from that moment on, he has been a force to be reckoned with in the college sailing world.

As a freshman, Snow was named an Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association All-American, making him one of only two first-year college sailors to be honored in a field dominated by upperclassmen.

In his sophomore season, Snow received ICSA All-American honors once again and was a finalist for the prestigious Marlow Ropes College Sailor of the Year award.

“[Snow] is a tremendous [sailor]. You don’t have to encourage him to practice hard or try hard; he does that all by himself,” Head Coach Michael Callahan said. “What puts him ahead of the rest of the pack in college sailing is his ability to sail in different boats and in different conditions. He is very versatile.”

Snow continued to demonstrate that versatility throughout this season, dominating in singlehanded, doublehanded and triplehanded competitions regardless of the weather.

The junior led the way for Georgetown as he and the Hoyas won the Match Racing National Championship, placed fifth at the 2015 LaserPerformance Team Race National Championship and finished fifth overall and third in the A division at the 2015 Gill Coed National Championship. Snow also finished fifth at the Men’s Singlehanded National Championship.

Snow’s standout performance earned him a place as a finalist for the Sailor of the Year honor again this season. The other sailor in contention for the award was Yale University senior Graham Landy. Already a three-time ICSA All-American, Landy narrowly edged out Snow to capture the Marlow Ropes award last year.

“I think that [Snow] came into [this season] and his goal was to go out and become the College Sailor of the Year,” Callahan said. “Without a doubt being a finalist last year was a great motivator. He doesn’t like to come in second.”

This season, Snow was able to successfully reverse the outcome, outperforming Landy and finally capturing the highest recognition in college sailing.

“[The College Sailor of the Year award] was a great honor and very satisfying,” Snow said. “Mostly because I’ve been given all the opportunities to succeed and win this award here at Georgetown, and to finally do it just feels great.”

Snow became the fifth Georgetown sailor to claim the College Sailor of the Year title. He now ranks among an elite group of past winners and fellow Hoyas. Andrew Campbell earned the award in 2006, Chris Behm in 2008 and Charlie Buckingham in both 2009 and 2011. Chris Barnard, a former teammate and mentor of Snow, received the honor in 2012.

“[Snow] is our sixth College Sailor of the Year in the last ten years. There is no other program in the country that can match that,” Callahan said. “Our best sailors make it a point to impart all their knowledge on the next generation. It says a lot about the leadership of the kids and about how each sailor helps his teammates out.”

The Hoyas are fortunate that Snow still has an entire season of college sailing remaining, during which he will have the opportunity to pass along his sailing knowledge to the next generation of Georgetown sailors.

“I am looking forward to simply being a leader and a competitor on our team,” Snow said. “Our ‘As One’ philosophy is what is going to help us to achieve our goals at the end of the season.  Relaying this philosophy [to the underclassmen] is my main goal for next year, and the competitive accomplishments will follow.”

Snow’s senior season will also be a chance for him to add to his already highly distinguished collegiate legacy.

“It will be tough to do as well as he did this year,” Callahan said. “He was almost undefeated in most of his events, but I think he wants to win the championships that he hasn’t won yet.”

Snow’s quest to conquer the championships that have eluded him thus far will begin in the fall, and if the past three seasons are any indication, Snow’s goals, whatever they may be, are certainly within reach.

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