Cougar Sailing Team Honored by S.C. Legislature

The College of Charleston’s varsity sailing team is well acquainted with success. Over the years, Cougar sailors have won nearly 30 national championships and have earned the No. 1 distinction in collegiate sailing – the Leonard B. Fowle Trophy – six times. They did that most recently in June 2015. And five months later, team members added a national championship in match racing to their list of achievements. Given all of this, it’s no surprise that the team’s prowess has come to the attention of South Carolina’s top elected officials.

S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse (center) poses with coaches and team members from the College’s varsity sailing team.

Members of the S.C. House of Representatives paid tribute to the team on Jan. 21, 2016, by honoring them at the State House with an official resolution sponsored by S.C. Rep. Chip Limehouse. Greg Fisher, the director of the College’s sailing program – along with head coach Ward Cromwell, offshore coach Ned Goss and members of the team – traveled to to the State House in Columbia for the occasion.

“This is a tremendous honor,” Fisher said. “The College has long had a very competitive sailing team and we’ve been fortunate enough to win many awards and accolades over the years, but it’s not often that our achievements are acknowledged by the state’s elected leaders. That’s really significant.”

Fisher said he was pleased that the resolution not only mentioned the team’s most recent championship, but also commended the team for accomplishments from previous years.

“I’m grateful that the House of Representatives chose to mention some of our individual highlights from the past four years, including 13 All‑Americans, six Honorable All‑Americans, and one College Sailor of the Year, as well as the fact that we’ve had eight Academic All‑Americans in that same span of time,” said Fisher.

“What a lot of people don’t know,” Fisher explained, “is that our sailors’ success extends well beyond collegiate sailing. We have two team members who have already qualified to compete at the Olympics this summer.” (Stefano Peschiera ’17 of Peru and Enrique Arathoon ’18 of El Salvador will be in Brazil to represent their respective countries. Sailing team alumnus Juan Maegli ’13 will also be there for Guatemala.)

“And, we have two other sailors who may also qualify for the Olympic Games as well,” continued Fisher. “On top of that, Chris Killian – a sophomore team member – is ranked among the top 27 match racing sailors in the world.”

Success, as the saying goes, breeds success.

Read the full resolution offered by the S.C. House of Representatives.