On Tuesday evening, the women’s sailing team was selected to compete in the team race nationals at Tulane University next weekend. The nomination marks the first time in program history that the team has qualified for the team race competition, with boats in previous years qualifying for the fleet race nationals.

Team race sailing is a strategic event, with three boats per school competing to finish in the highest places possible. The boats’ numerical placements are added together, and the school with the lowest total wins the overall competition. The entire Polar Bear squad was invited to this spring’s team race nationals with two sailors per boat in competition.

Rebecca Schill ’27, one of the women’s team’s top skippers, was thrilled to receive the news.

“This is a really exciting moment for our team. We knew that the at-large selections were coming out after practice, so it was awesome to share the moment together in Thorne [Hall],” Schill wrote in an email to the Orient. “Every women’s team race regatta this season has been super competitive with the top teams in our conference and the country trading wins back [and] forth.”

Ahead of nationals, the team will compete in a few events across New England this weekend.

Schill acknowledged that this accomplishment is the result of the team’s many years of practice and dedication.

“I am really proud of the hard work that the women’s group has done this season and over the past couple of years,” Schill wrote. “It is so satisfying [that it will] culminate [in] a trip to New Orleans to represent Bowdoin on the big stage.”