Alexander "Zander" Kirkland (born February 11, 1983) is a Bermudian competitive sailor. Kirkland was involved with sailing from a young age, and sailed in college at Tufts University in Massachusetts. Following college, he and his brother Jesse Kirkland began training in an attempt to qualify for the

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in London in the 49er event. During the 2012

49er World Championship The 49er World Championships are international sailing regattas in the 49er and 49er FX classes organized by the International Sailing Federation. It was first held in 1997. In 2013, the 49er FX class was added to the programme. The 49er has been ...

in Croatia, the brothers finished in the Gold fleet and thereby qualified to represent Bermuda in the 2012 Olympics.

Career

Kirkland is a native of Bermuda, and grew up sailing there. He attended college in the United States at Tufts University in Massachusetts, and sailed while a student. He later moved to

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city in South Orange County, California. Newport Beach is known for swimming and sandy beaches. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries however today, it is used mostly for recreation. Balboa Island, Newport ...

, where he worked as youth sailing director for the Newport Harbor Yacht Club and as sailing coach at Newport Harbor High School. Two years prior to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Kirkland and his brother Jesse Kirkland began training full-time in an attempt to qualify as Bermuda's representatives in the Olympics 49er competition. The 49er, a small two-person racing dinghy, is a relatively new sailing competition for the Olympics, having debuted for the first time at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

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, Australia. At the 2012 World Championships in Croatia at the Sailing Club Uskok, the Kirkland brothers arrived early to gain experience sailing in local conditions. They advanced to the gold fleet after the preliminary qualifying races and later became the first team to secure one of the five remaining Olympic qualifying places that remained at the time after finishing in eighth place out of seventy-four in the final standings. After their success in Croatia, they likewise left early for Weymouth, England, in order to get used to local sailing conditions prior to the start of the Olympic Games. They were one of twenty boats that competed in the 49er competition in the 2012 Olympics, finishing in 19th place.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkland, Zander 1983 births Bermudian male sailors (sport) Living people Olympic sailors of Bermuda Sailors at the 2012 Summer Olympics – 49er Tufts Jumbos sailors Tufts University alumni