RECENT COVERAGE : January 26, 2008
 

Karen Gojnich stands out among the Yngling sailors for a number of reasons.  The primary one is that she has been one of the pace setters for the entire Australian sailing squad for two decades.  Gojnich teamed up with Nicky Bethwaite in the 470 and represented Australia at the 1988 Olympic Games in Pousan, Korea.  Their sixth place finish made them the stars of the Australian sailing team.  Her 470 career continued beyond Pousan and in 1990, she and Bethwaite were ranked 5^th in the world in the Women’s 470.   Even while raising her two daughters, who are now teenagers, Gojnich has remained competitive.  Gojnich trained with the Australian 470 squad leading up to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.  She match races and she was nominated for Australian Yachtsperson of the Year twice. 

Gojnich started sailing Ynglings when they were introduced as an Olympic class.  With her sailing partner, Nicky Bethwaite at the helm and Kristen Kosmala on the bow, Gojnich returned to Olympic competition in Athens, Greece where the Australian team finished just out of the medal round competition. 

Bethwaite, Godjnich and Angela Farrell qualified Australia for the 2008 Olympics with a 15^th place finish at the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships in Cascais, Portugal and had top ten finishes throughout the spring and summer of 2007, including an 8^th place finish at the Olympic Test Event in Qingdao.  During the fall of 2007, Bethwaite had a cycling accident and broke both of her arms.  While one of the breaks mended well the other has proven so troublesome that Australians have given a promising youngster a second chance to steer a boat at the 2008 Games.  Krystal Wier, the 23-year old Laser Radial sailor who was nosed out of the Laser Radial slot on the team by Sarah Blanck, was tapped on the shoulder to steer the Australian Yngling after Bethwaite failed her fitness test.  From the middle of the boat, Gojnich will guide her team mates whose combined age is just a few years more than her own, through the remainder of the run up to her third Olympic appearance in two decades.  The oldest female sailor destined to compete in Qingdao; Gojnich is an inspiration to all – her daughters, husband, past and present team mates, Australians and female athletes.