A 16-year-old Los Alamitos High School sophomore has set sail for a spot on the American team hoping to compete in the upcoming Olympic games in Paris.
Literally.
Sailing now for half his life, Stewart McCaleb said this week he is determined to compete in the Parisian Olympics in 2024 or the Los Angeles games in 2028.
Ironically, many of the water sports in 2028 are being planned for the areas near the Alamitos Bay Yacht Club from which McCaleb now sails.
“You just have to fight the fear,” said McCaleb in a recent interview, noting that the thrill of sailing can be challenging and dangerous. Perseverance is perhaps the biggest qualifier, said McCaleb, as the ocean winds generally, at some point, frighten every sailor, including himself.
“It may be super windy; I may be super scared, right, but you know other people are fine. Everybody’s nervous. If everybody’s nervous that means whoever’s mentally strong enough to keep going is really who succeeds,” says McCaleb.
His dad John says he was a recreational sailor on the East Coast and just for fun, signed up his son in a sailing camp when Stewart was a young boy. McCaleb has loved battling the ocean since then.
“There are those experiences where you’re down and you just have to fight,” Stewart said of some of his more challenging moments competing with the wind at his back and waves slapping at his face.
“You just have to fight the fear. McCaleb says he is also a member of the Griffin sailing club.
The Los Al student said he competes in the men’s one-person dinghy event which is a 14-foot long sailboat. “It’s definitely intense,” said Stewart.
Stewart travelled to Florida over the weekend competed against 30 other sailors who are just as determined to win a spot on the U.S.A. sailing team this summer. The Florida event features a series of two regattas per day for eight days, each of which lasts about 45 minutes.
For all his drive on the ocean, Stewart keeps his Olympic ambitions within reason. While he believes he will one-day indeed race for his country on the ocean blue, for now he lives the life of a normal student.
“I’ve just tried to make plans for myself that I can stay consistent with,” claims Stewart, noting that he was “not trying to overwork myself, while still having time for schoolwork.”
“There’s a lot of hard work, but once the work pays off, it definitely shows, and you get that sense of gratitude,” says Stewart, who realizes even sailors have to keep their feet, and dreams on solid ground.
The young Olympic hopeful said when he’s not sailing or doing homework, he’s a Boy Scout and truly enjoys hiking in nearby hills.
“I’m definitely nervous,” said the younger McCaleb, knowing full well he must compete against the best young sailing enthusiasts in the country. “There’s no real set of expectations for me because you know, I’m probably going to be one of the youngest competitors.”
And if this cycle doesn’t work out, he knows there’s clear sailing to the next one. “There’s the four year cycle so I have another four years after this one to really get my best game on for L.A. 2028.”
