Additional Team Sperry Athletes Qualify for 2012 Olympics

Jan 19, 2012

LEXINGTON (MA), USA (January 19, 2012) - Leading global nautical performance and lifestyle brand Sperry Top-Sider® is delighted to announce sponsored athletes Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell will represent Team Great Britain (GBR) in the 470 class in the London 2012 Olympic Games, while Claire Leroy, Mari Riou, Claire Pruvot and Elodie Bertrand will represent France in women’s match racing.
Currently 21 Team Sperry athletes representing five countries have qualified for the Games, and it is expected that more athletes will be announced in the coming months. The current list includes:
UK

Luke Patience – Men’s 470
Stuart Bithell – Men’s 470
Nick Dempsey – Men’s RS:X
Saskia Clark - Women’s 470
Hannah Mills - Women’s 470
Lucy Macgregor - Match Racing
Kate Macgregor - Match Racing
Annie Lush - Match Racing
Paul Goodison - Laser

USA (pending US Olympic Committee approval)

Stuart McNay – Men’s 470
Graham Biehl – Men’s 470
Zach Railey – Finn
Paige Railey – Laser Radial
Erik Storck – 49er
Trevor Moore – 49er

Belgium

Evi Van Acker – Laser Radial

Croatia

Ivan Gaspic – Finn

France

Claire Leroy – Match Racing
Marie Riou – Match Racing
Claire Pruvot – Match Racing
Elodie Bertrand – Match Racing

Ends
Date: January 2012

About Team Sperry:
Team Sperry is a select group of world-class sailors who share Sperry Top-Sider's passion for performance. Seasoned by competition, Team Sperry provides valuable input into the design and testing of Sperry Top-Sider product for use in, on and around the water. This feedback allows Sperry to develop state-of-the-art performance solutions for competitive and casual sailors through our proprietary GripX3™ Technology.
The current team includes 17 athletes from the USA and 16 from Europe in the following Olympic sailing classes:

470 Men
• Stuart McNay and Graham Biehl (USA)
• Luke Patience and Stuart Bithell (GBR)
470 Women
• Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark (GBR)
49er
• Trevor Moore and Erik Stork (USA)
Finn
• Ivan Gaspic (Croatia)
• Giles Scott (GBR)
• Zach Railey (USA)
Laser Radial
• Evi Van Acker (Belgium)
• Paige Railey (USA)
Laser
• Paul Goodison (GBR)
Match Racing
• Claire Leroy, Claire Pruvot, Marie Riou and Elodie Bertrand (France)
• Lucy MacGregor, Kate MacGregor and Annie Lush (GBR)
• Sally Barkow, Elizabeth Kratzig and Alana O’Reilly (USA)
• Anna Tunnicliffe, Debbie Capozzi and Molly Vandermoer (USA)
RS:X
• Nick Dempsey (GBR)
Star
• Andrew Campbell and Ian Coleman (USA)
• Brad Nichol and Andy Horton (USA)

Follow Team Sperry on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Team-Sperry/163964980336170
Follow Team Sperry on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/SperrySailing
Visit Team Sperry’s page on the website at: www.sperrytopsider.com/sailing
About Sperry Top-Sider
Since 1935, Sperry Top-Sider has been the leading brand of footwear for those with a Passion for the SeaTM. From its introduction of the world’s first siped rubber outsole for non-marking traction to advanced technical fabrication to combat the elements, Sperry Top-Sider remains at the vanguard of high-performance amphibious footwear for life and activities in, on and around the water.
Available around the globe in independent, marine, outdoor and department stores, Sperry Top-Sider is the official footwear of the Sperry Top-Sider NOOD Regattas, Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics, the New York Yacht Club Invitational Cup and the National Safe Boating Council.

Since early 2010, the brand has launched thirteen Sperry Top-Sider retail stores in the U.S. – retail formats dedicated to the Passion for the Sea lifestyle. Sperry Top-Sider is a division of the Collective Brands Performance and Lifestyle Group, a subsidiary of Collective Brands, Inc. (NYSE: PSS). For more information, please visit www.sperrytopsider.com.

For further information, please contact:
Sperry Top-Sider
Beverly Antunes
beverly.antunes@sperrytopsider.com
Tel: +001 617-824-6194
Press materials, images etc:
Saltwater Communications
Nicola Marlow
nicola.marlow@saltwatercoms.com
Tel: +44 (0)1202-669244