|
|
Tuesday, September 19
Reynolds looks to rebound from Atlanta
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- Mark Reynolds is as predictable as the tide.
For decades, no American sailor in the Star class made
consecutive Olympic appearances. Then Reynolds came along, and no
one else has been able to get in a jib edgewise.
Reynolds, one of the old men among the seagoing U.S. Olympians,
will have his two-man Star on the starting line in Sydney next
month. It will be his fourth straight Olympics, tying sailboarder
Mike Gebhardt, who'll also be in Sydney, for the most appearances
by a U.S. sailor.
And it's no surprise that Reynolds goes in as America's best bet
for a sailing gold medal, which would be his second.
"It's still special," said the 44-year-old Reynolds, a
sailmaker, second-generation Star sailor and a protege of Dennis
Conner, who also grew up in San Diego before going on to America's
Cup fame. "I just really enjoy sailing the Star boat."
Reynolds won the silver medal in his first Olympics, in 1988. He
and crewman Hal Haenel, saw their bid for gold undone in the final
race when a control line failed and their mast came tumbling down.
Four years later, they won the gold medal in Barcelona, never
finishing worse than third in any race and wrapping up the medal
even before the final day of competition.
But they finished an uncharacteristic eighth at the Atlanta
Games in 1996.
"We expected to do well last time," Reynolds said while
sitting in the sail loft he owns near the San Diego Yacht Club.
"We thought everything was pretty much on track, but it just
didn't go well. So I guess that probably drives me a little harder
this time to try to come back and improve on that."
Haenel retired after '96, and his spot went to Swede Magnus
Liljedahl, who became a U.S. citizen in 1994.
Although they've been sailing together for just three years,
Reynolds figures his experience will give them an edge. He knows
what it takes to win a medal.
"I probably won't make some of the mistakes the younger guys
might make," he said. "In a way, there's not quite as much
pressure on me, too. They're looking at it as their one chance to
get an Olympic medal. I've gotten an Olympic medal and I'm there to
do it again."
Although sailors face an exhausting range of variables over the
course of every race, Liljedahl knows that hooking up with Reynolds
is the closest he's going to come to a sure thing.
"He was the big favorite all along and has the best
reputation," Liljedahl said.
Reynolds and Liljedahl won the Star world championships this
year -- Reynolds' second in five years -- as well as some other top
regattas. In the winner-take-all Star Olympic trials, they won nine
of 12 races.
"If everything goes right, and we have a little ounce of
fortune on our side, I think we can win the gold medal pretty
handily," Liljedahl said.
Reynolds' first Olympic campaign was in 1980 in the now
discontinued Flying Dutchman class, but with the boycott of the
Moscow Games looming, he didn't even bother going through the
trials. He had a good shot to qualify, having won the last two big
regattas before the trials.
Although he failed to qualify for the 1984 Games, the American
who went, Bill Buchan, used sails made by Reynolds in winning the
gold medal.
Since then, the line between the Olympics and Reynolds' business
have blurred. Needing a job after his 1980 Olympic campaign, he
began making sails for the Star, a sleek, 22-foot, 8-inch keelboat
with a huge sail area.
"I got into the business of making sails so I could continue to
do Olympic sailing and now it's kind of all interconnected, because
I make sails for the same boats that I race," Reynolds said. "So
my business is essentially sailing the Star now. The two kind of go
together. There really couldn't be one without the other."
Reynolds also makes sails for most of his competitors.
"Even when I go to the Olympics there will probably be a few
last-minute sails I'll be taking down to people," he said.
Of course, as a businessman, he has to help his customers.
They'll want his opinion on how to set the sails and other
information.
"So I have to be real open with everybody, but that seems to
work out well. I learn from them as well, so it helps my sailing,"
he said.
Reynolds' father, Jim, crewed for Conner. They won the Star
world championships in 1971, the first major championship for
Conner, who would go on to win the America's Cup four times and
lose it twice. Mark Reynolds helped out on shore when Conner won an
Olympic bronze medal in the now-discontinued Tempest class in 1976.
"I've learned most of the tricks that I know from Dennis,"
Reynolds said. "Just the dedication to leaving no stone unturned
and making sure you are better prepared than anyone else. Some of
his ideas that he used on the Star, we're still using today."
U.S. sailing coach Gary Bodie has seen that preparation, having
sailed against Reynolds in college in the 1970s.
"He's just dedicated his life to it," Bodie said. "He became
one of the best sailors in the world. I don't think he gets the
attention he deserves because he's such an unassuming, quiet guy.
He's never thrown his hat into the America's Cup and all that
stuff."
But he has been called the star of the Star class, and even
after Sydney he plans to continue to set his calendar to the
Olympics.
"Twelve years ago, I certainly never would have expected to go
to four, let alone two," Reynolds said. "I don't see any reason
why physically I can't do it again."
|  | |
|
