College of Charleston student Paris Henken, a sophomore from Coronado, Calif., is the first female sailor in program history to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games.
Paris Henken (right) and teammate Helena Scutt
Henken and teammate Helena Scutt, a four-year member of the varsity sailing team at Stanford University, secured their place at The Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after four days of racing at the 2016 49erFX World Championships held in Clearwater, Fla. They became the first Americans to earn their spot as members of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Sailing Team.
Both Henken and Scutt will be competing in their first Olympic Games in the 49erFX class.
Henken is one of four current and former CofC sailors to have qualified for the Rio Games. The others are 2013 ICSA College Sailor of the Year and two-time Olympian Juan Maegli (Guatemala City, Guatemala), sophomore and 2014 ICSA men’s singlehanded national champion Stefano Peschiera (Lima, Peru) and junior Enrique Arathoon (Guatemala City, Guatemala), who holds dual citizenship in Guatemala and El Salvador.
