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Iklé named US SAILING Coach of the Year
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Scott Iklé '84 |
December 12, 2003
GENEVA, N.Y.—In conjunction with the U.S. Olympic Committee, US SAILING named Hobart and William Smith Colleges Sailing Head Coach Scott Iklé ’84 National Coach of the Year. It is the second time he has been honored by US SAILING and the U.S. Olympic Committee, earning the 1998 Developmental Coach of the Year.
Now in his 11th season with the Colleges, Iklé has led HWS sailors to 17 ICSA North American Championship events, including eight top five finishes. This fall, Hobart finished second in the ICSA North American Sloop championships. During the 2002-03 academic year, the Colleges qualified for four of the ICSA’s six North American events, including a second place finish in the Sloop Championship and a fourth place showing in the Team Race Championship. Since 1996, 25 sailors have earned All-American honors under his tutelage.
The HWS coed sailing team is second in the latest Sailing World rankings.
“This honor is a fitting tribute to Scott’s leadership and to the dedication and outstanding performances of the HWS sailors,” Hobart Director of Athletics Mike Hanna ’68 said. “It’s especially timely coming on the heels of his Pan Am coaching stint this summer and the construction of the Bozzuto Boathouse this fall.
“We are very proud of Coach Iklé and his athletes; as a teacher, coach, and citizen, Scott is certainly our good fortune,” Hanna said.
On the international level, Iklé was head coach for the 2003 Pan Am Games 13-member U.S. Sailing Team. In addition to coaching the ultimate gold medalists in two events (Mistral Women and J/24) in Santo Domingo, Iklé’s coaching was considered instrumental in the performance of the windsurfers who subsequently won their respective Olympic Team Trials in November and will represent the United States in Athens next summer.
“For me, Scott really stood out as head coach,” said three-time Pan Am medalist Lanee Butler Beashal. “He definitely helped me win the gold medal at the 2003 Pan Am Games. And, I got an e-mail from our Hobie sailors a month later saying that the experience they got in Santo Domingo has helped them win a bunch of Hobie regattas since. They said it was because of the feedback—the Hobies sailed on our course—from Scott.”
A native of Manhasset, N.Y., Iklé holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Hobart, and a master’s degree in environmental studies from Long Island University. He lives in Geneva with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Kristen.