News STEVE KEEN HONOURED BY US SAILING AS DEVELOPMENT COACH OF THE YEAR 2017

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STEVE KEEN HONOURED BY US SAILING AS DEVELOPMENT COACH OF THE YEAR 2017

12
Apr 2018

A repeat winner of this award, Steve Keen has helped orchestrate unprecedented success for U.S. I420 athletes in recent years, and 2017 continued that trend.

On 12 April 2018, after receiving nominations from the public in early 2018, US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) today announced two winners of 2017 national coaching awards. Rosie Chapman (Houston, Texas) has been named US Sailing’s 2017 National Coach of the Year, with Steve Keen (Stamford, Conn.) as US Sailing’s 2017 Development Coach of the Year. Each year, the OSC honors coaches who have distinguished themselves at the youth, national and international levels of sailing.

Steve Keen
I420 Sailors coached by Keen won medals at regattas such as North Americans, Youth Champs, Europeans, Junior Europeans, ACC’s, Orange Bowl, and others. Keen also presided over his third straight I420 gold medal at the Youth Worlds in Sanya, China.

In Sanya, Carmen Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) and Emma Cowles (Larchmont, N.Y.) took the win in the girls I420, with silver by Thomas Rice (Garden City, N.Y.) and Trevor Bornath (Stuart, Fla.) in the boys fleet. Keen works as the Head 420 Coach at LISOT, an internationally competitive racing program based in the Long Island Sound area.

For Keen, the rewards of a career in coaching are both ample and strait-forward. “Seeing a sailor of any level achieve what they set out to do, and then having that sailor show a willingness to push harder for continued growth, is why I do this.”

The International 420 Class has also been extremely fortunate to work with Steve Keen as the Head Coach for our Coaches and Sailors Clinics, including in the Bahamas so far in 2018.

“These two coaches exemplify the methods and values that US Sailing hopes to see flourishing across our sport,” said Bruce Burton, President of US Sailing. “Rosie and Steve each had a superb competitive record last year, while also helping young sailors become well-rounded and resilient athletes. US sailors were also fortunate to have both coaches guiding them at the Youth Worlds in Sanya, China, and the results speak for themselves.”

Previous winners of sailing’s Developmental Coach of the Year Award include Willie McBride (Santa Barbara, Calif.), Todd Fedyszyn (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Steve Keen (Stamford, Conn.), Jay Kehoe (Annapolis, Md.) Ryan Minth (New York, N.Y.), Brett Davis (Naples, Fla.), Ben Glass (Seattle, Wash.), Duffy Markham (Wellesley, Mass.), Tom Coleman (Hixson, Tenn.), Rob Hallawell (Marblehead, Mass./Coronado, Calif.), Brian Doyle (Darien, Conn./Hanover, N.H.), Amy Gross-Kehoe (Bayville, N.Y.), Adam Werblow (St. Mary’s, Md.) and Mike Zani (Bristol, R.I.).

Read the full report by US Sailing