College Sailing Briefs - Andrew Goetting, Roger Williams

Roger Williams University has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the college sailing world. The recent hiring of current coach, Amanda Callahan, demonstrates the school's and athletic department's commitment to maintaining and improving upon an already high caliber team. Callahan, among many other honors, was recently on the shortlist of nominations for the 2007 Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year. This Roger Williams team currently (as of Feb 12th) ranks 9th in the national polls, though they hope to climb even higher. The team certainly is capable, as they have recently been ranked as high as number 4.

Andrew Goetting - Rhode IslandAndrew Goetting, currently a senior captain of the sailing team at Roger Williams, has played a large role in their success. Andrew typically finds himself skippering in the "A division", competing against some of the best talent in all of college sailing. Though there are many highlights in his career at Roger Williams, including a nod as University Athlete of the Week during the '05-'06 season, among his recent highlights is leading the team to a 6th place finish at the MIT Erwin Schell Trophy Regatta last fall. This finish qualified the team for the Atlantic Coast Championships on Nov. 10-11 in St. Petersburg, FL, where Andrew helped his team to finish in 11th place in a very competitive and talented fleet.

SailingSmarter was fortunate and recently fit in a quick phone call with Andrew to discuss his sailing endeavors and to learn a little more about sailing history. Read on for some of the highlights of our conversation.
SailingSmarter: Where did you grow up?
Andrew: Point Pleasant, NJ.

SailingSmarter: What was your first sailing experience?
Andrew: Age 6, at Bay Head Yacht Club.

SailingSmarter: Who taught you to sail?
Andrew: About 10-15 instructors from the Junior Sailing Program. Began as a beginner and then we started our teams with kids from the program.

SailingSmarter: What has led to your success as a college sailor?
Andrew: A few things have contributed, including: Being part of the U.S. National Team, having the best coaches in the world to learn from, being consistently motivated to sail at the top level, and the concept of (I) “Came to College to sail and learn second.”

SailingSmarter: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Andrew: Sailing has provided leadership and organizational skills that I can use towards a career. It’s also created an opportunity to network with prospective employers because I coach some of their kids. I plan on focusing on working at a brokerage firm as a result of networking in the sailing community.

SailingSmarter: What have been the best and worst things about college sailing?
Andrew: Best: It gives me a different perspective of college. We compete from August to November, which helps keep us structured and maintain a consistent schedule.
Worst: Not experiencing the typical college weekends.

SailingSmarter: What has been your favorite sailing experience?
Andrew: This past fall, Roger Williams competed in the National Championships for the first time. With the high level of competition, this really opened my eyes to sailing after college. It's also made me look forward to being able to sail in more team racing events.

SailingSmarter: What are your predictions for your team this year?
Andrew: We ended well last year, but we were all still disappointed. We have three of the best coaches around, with Amanda and Collin being nominated for Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year honors. We practice as hard as or harder than the other teams. We go three days a week with both work outs and meetings. With the way we can sail, we have a good chance of finishing strong, if not winning, each regatta. We are the underdog at Nationals and we like it that way.

SailingSmarter: What two tips would you give to the sailing community to help them finish closer to the front?
Andrew: Just work harder than any other team out there.

SailingSmarter: What do you like to do when you not sailing?
Andrew: Snowboarding, wakeboarding, and hanging out with friends.

Roger Williams Sailing Team
Members: 40
Waters: Mt. Hope and Upper Narragansett Bays
Coach: Amanda Callahan

Best of luck to the Roger Williams Team and to Andy during the Spring. You can find more information at the Roger Williams Sailing Team Website, which is constantly updated with regatta reports. http://www.rwuhawks.com/index.asp?path=sailing&tab=coed