Minnetonka Sailor to Compete in Olympic Trials

senior Connor Corgard heads to Miami this week to sail in his biggest race to date. 

“My coach thinks I’m ready to compete in the Olympic trials,” said Corgard. “I am excited. It has been my dream my entire life to compete in a sport in the Olympics.”

Corgard has come a long way since he started sailing just five years ago.

“I taught myself to sail at our cabin,” he said. “My parents are teachers, so they have summers off and we spend time at Sunset Lake.”

He was hooked from the start. “Sailing just clicked for me,” Corgard said. “I love being able to set my own course. Being out on the water is like another world to me.”

Corgard will compete in the Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta Jan. 22-28. The international world cup event attracts elite sailors from all over the world. It is also the Olympic trials for the U.S. 

Corgard will race in the single-handed (one person) class, using a 13-foot vessel called a Laser that he borrowed from a friend.

Sailors will race courses of two to four miles each around a series of buoys.  Corgard will have up to three races per day, weather permitting.

Onward and upward, Corgard has his sights set on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. 

“2012 isn't really in the picture for me,” he explained. “I am competing in trials to gain the necessary experience so that when 2016 comes around, I can be a major competitor.”

Corgard has proved himself to be a strong competitor at the high school level.  He placed 14th in the 2010 and 2011 national high school championships. 

Sailing is a year-round endeavor for Corgard. “It takes an insane amount of training to compete at the level I am reaching for,” he said. “I am preparing myself in every way to be able to get there.”

In the summer, he spends 9 to 11 hours per day on the water training, racing and teaching.

Although the high school sailing season ends in November, “I sail until there’s ice on the lake,” said Corgard.

In the winter, he trains by lifting weights, running and biking. “For this event, I have had to put on a little weight so I have been eating like a truck and lifting like crazy,” he said.

Although Corgard will compete solo in the trials, he has had help along the way. 

Minnetonka sailing coach Gordy Bowers encouraged Corgard to pursue his passion for sailing. 

“He inspired me by showing me how much there is about the sport,” Corgard said. Bowers was head coach of the 1988 U.S. Olympic sailing team.

Corgard was also influenced by former coach Hugh Harris. “When we were just starting out on the international circuit and our heads were low from not doing well in a single race, Hugh showed us that perseverance pays off,” he said.

Corgard has raced in the double-handed (two person) class with Sarah Hogg, a Breck student.

He hasn’t had any serious injuries from sailing, but he and Hogg were thrown overboard at the 2011 North American championships in Canada.

“We tipped near the end of a race and in the waves we were in, it was tricky to sort everything out," he recalled. "I almost broke my leg in the process. Sarah broke her toe, but she kept racing without even telling me until we hit land.”

In sailing, money can be a bigger hurdle than waves.

“This is an expensive sport, and that’s always been my hardest problem,” said Corgard. 

To cover the cost of the Olympic trials, he is raising funds by writing letters to family, friends and friends-of-friends.  “I’m about $200 away from my goal,” he said. “I have received help from a number of generous individuals who’ve heard my story.”  

Corgard joined Minnetonka’s sailing team as a junior, when he transferred from a school in Blaine where his family lives. 

His decision to open-enroll to Minnetonka was based on the school’s sailing team and rigorous academics. Despite the one-hour commute each way, he says, “I absolutely love it.”

Corgard has been on the honor roll every semester of high school and is a member of the National Honor Society.

He has applied to several east coast universities with strong sailing programs, including Boston College, Brown, Dartmouth and Yale. He is considering a major in physics.

Corgard is not sure where physics will take him in a future career. 

“As many people say to today's youth, ‘Most of you will end up doing jobs that don't even exist today’,” he said.

One thing he is certain of: “I will always be a person deeply intertwined in the sailing world.”