Among the halls of Cathedral Catholic roams a back-to-back sailing National Champion. Junior Nevin Snow is ranked as the number one high school sailor in the entire United States.

Born and raised in San Diego, Nevin started sailing at the age of five and participated in his first official race at the age of seven. The first boat Nevin sailed was a Naples Sabot, the simplest sailing there is.  He said it helped him get accustomed to what the winds are like out at sea.

As this year’s winner, Nevin held onto his National Champion title from 2009.  The competition was held in Florida and Nevin said it was a, “Great experience going to Florida because you get to sail in new waters which ends up building confidence for other competitions.”

When Nevin realized he was the first to cross the finish line, he said he felt “relieved to have won the individual nationals again. It was very important for me because it showed that all of my hard work and dedication throughout the year and this summer has paid off.”

Nevin said the conditions in Florida were hot and stressful.  He said, “There was no wind so each race took forever. It made the win feel even better because it was in such challenging conditions.”

Nevin had qualified, in October as one of the four people who qualify from the west coast. “I had been sailing non-stop all summer in hopes of recapturing the title,” he said.

Even though he has won Nationals, Nevin said he still feels like he needs to keep practicing in order to continually achieve success.  Of the Cathedral Catholic sailing team, Nevin said, “It looks great this year, having won the first event of the year and the individual Nationals.  We’re going for that repeat National Title as well learning as much as we can for next year!”