Newberry Moore and Liebenberg nominated for Paris 2024 in the Nacra 17

by US Sailing Team 13 May 2024 20:39 UTC

Sarah Newberry Moore and David Liebenberg - La Grande Motte International Regatta 2024 © YCGM / Didier Hillaire

Sarah Newberry Moore (Miami, FL) and David Liebenberg (Richmond, CA) won athlete selection at the 2024 Nacra 17 World Championship and have secured their spot to represent the United States this summer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the Nacra 17.

The pair qualified the US as a country at the Pan American Games in Chile on November 3, 2023, and completed their final step by winning their athlete selection process this week in France.

"Finally winning the Olympic Trials on my third campaign feels overwhelming," said US Sailing Team's Newberry Moore. "I am relieved and grateful. I'm proud to show my son that his mama is fast, strong, and was willing to work 10 hard years to earn the honor of representing the USA at the Olympics."

"It's quite a relief. It has been nearly 10 years coming and to finally secure a spot feels amazing," said Liebenberg, USST. "It definitely hasn't fully sunken in yet. It comes in waves."

Sarah and David secured their tickets to Marseille halfway through the second of the two selection events. By advancing to the top 25 after three days of racing, they guaranteed a large enough point separation between them and their American competition to earn nomination to Team USA.

Final Nacra 17 combined points from the 2024 Trofeo Princesa Sofía and the 2024 World Championship

48 points: Sarah Newberry Moore & David Liebenberg, US Sailing Team & Paris 2024 Nominees
- 25th at Trofeo Princesa Sofía
- 23rd at Nacra 17 World Championship
67 points: Carson Crain & Lindsay Gimple
- 33rd at Trofeo Princesa Sofía
- 34th at Nacra 17 World Championship

With the weight of qualification off their shoulders, Newberry Moore and Liebenberg turned their attention to the remainder of their regatta and finished on a high note with a top ten finish in their final race, landing them in 23rd out of 44 for the 2024 Nacra 17 World Championship.

Happening concurrently to the Nacra 17 World Championships were the 49er and 49erFX European Championships also in La Grande Motte, and the 470 European Championships further up the coast in Cannes, France. This batch of regattas concluded the formal racing schedule for these four boat classes ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Now, athletes will turn to final preparations and informal "coach regattas" for fine tuning sparring practice against upcoming Olympic competition.

European Championships Final USA Results

5th Ian Barrows & Hans Henken, 49er - US Sailing Team, Paris 2024 Nominees
9th Stephanie Roble & Maggie Shea, 49erFX - US Sailing Team, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024 Nominees
17th Stu McNay & Lara Dallman-Weiss, Mixed 470 - US Sailing Team, 4x Olympian / Tokyo 2020 Olympian, Paris 2024 Nominees
21st Andrew Mollerus & Ian MacDiarmid, 49er - US Sailing Team