Three Former College of Charleston athletes to participate in Tokyo Olympics 

July 20, 2021

For one of the most storied sailing programs in the nation, the goal year in and year out has always been the same: mentor and produce world class sailors and compete for national championships.

For many young sailors first setting foot on campus, the school’s past Olympians naturally become both legend and role model as they pursue their own dreams of competing on the sport’s biggest stages. This near-perfect alignment of both athlete and program ambition is one of the key reasons behind Charleston’s success with nine Leonard B. Fowle Trophies, 27 national championships, eight College Sailor of the Year awards and almost 200 All-Americans to the program’s credit since its inception in 1978.

College of Charleston sailing has also produced six Olympians to date including two silver medalists in Jim Brady (Barcelona 1992) and John C. Lovell ‘90 (Athens 2004). Three more former Cougars, each with their own prosperous career at the College, hope to add their names to that list when they set sail at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games on July 23 – Aug. 8 in Tokyo, Japan.

“The drive and determination required to make it to the Games in the Laser is really hard to fathom,” Director of Sailing Kevin Jewett said.  “These guys have been training more or less full time from their early teens and continue to find ways to make small improvements. Maintaining the incredible fitness required to compete is a huge challenge, especially in one of the most physically demanding sports in the Games. There will be 30+ boats in their fleet, all peak athletes representing their countries and fighting for the podium. Three of them share a bond that ties them beyond borders and that is pretty special.”

Leading the way for the Cougars’ medal hopes in Tokyo is 2013 ICSA College Sailor of the Year Juan Maegli ’15, who is making his fourth consecutive trip to the Olympics after finishing a career-best eighth in the medal race of the Men’s Laser event at the Rio Games in 2016. Maegli’s success in Charleston, highlighted by a pair of ICSA All-America nods and the 2013 Everett B. Morris Trophy as the College Sailor of the Year, has attracted numerous other international sailors to follow in his footsteps at the College.

These ranks include Enrique Arathoon ’17 and Stefano Peschiera ’18, who will be representing the nations of El Salvador and Peru, respectively, for the second time after both competed at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Arathoon finished 24th in Rio and will be the first sailor to represent El Salvador at two Olympic Games when racing begins later this week. A native of Guatemala City, Guatemala, Arathoon is eligible to represent El Salvador through his mother.

“I am from Guatemala City and have lived there all my life,” Arathoon said. “My mother is from El Salvador, so I have dual citizenship and chose to represent El Salvador for sailing. We are a small country and having the joy of representing El Salvador in two Olympic Games is a great honor. It is also a responsibility and commitment to represent all Salvadorans, a country that has suffered from violence. I want to show that there are good things happening there too, and as athletes we can set an example for the youth.”

Peschiera capped a storied career at the College in 2018 after helping the Cougars capture their eighth Fowle Trophy and becoming the fifth sailor in program history to receive the Everett B. Morris Trophy as the College Sailor of the Year. The Lima, Peru native won the 2017 ICSA Men’s Singlehanded National Championship and finished 31st in the Rio Games, a disappointment which prompted him to take a six-month break from the sport before making a comeback at the behest of his family.

“It was tough because I went to my first Olympic Games with a lot of expectation, knowing that I had the potential,” Peschiera said. “Not reaching my goals, and after putting myself under so much pressure and making so many demands of myself, led me to make a hurried decision. I took six months off, finished my studies and later my family convinced me to return. This sport runs through my veins. My first event after my comeback was good, without any pressure, and that motivated me to start my campaign to [the 2020 Olympic Games in] Tokyo.”

The Parade of Nations and Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Games will be aired on Friday, July 23 beginning at 7:30 p.m. (ET) on NBC, when Cougar fans can expect to see Maegli and Arathoon proudly displaying their home countries’ colors as flag bearers for Guatemala and El Salvador, respectively. Maegli, Arathoon and Peschiera will begin their quest for the Cougars’ third Olympic medal when racing gets underway in the 33-man field of the Men’s Laser class (one-person dinghy) competition on Sunday, July 25. The medal race will take place on Sunday, August 1.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON ALL-TIME OLYMPIANS (7)

  • Jim Brady – United States – Sailing – Barcelona 1992 (Silver Medal – Soling Class)
  • John C. Lovell ‘90 – United States – Sailing – Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 (Silver Medal – Tornado Class), Beijing 2008
  • Juan Maegli ’15 – Guatemala – Sailing – Beijing 2008, London 2012 (Flag Bearer), Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 (Flag Bearer)
  • Andrew Lawrence ’13 – Great Britain – Men’s Basketball – London 2012
  • Enrique Arathoon ’17 – El Salvador – Sailing – Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 (Flag Bearer)
  • Paris Henken ’21 – United States – Sailing – Rio 2016
  • Stefano Peschiera ‘18 – Peru – Sailing – Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020