Antonia & Georgia Lewin-LaFrance finish 1 point from podium at Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta

Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance finish one point away from podium at Sailing Grand Slam Series © Sail Canada

Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance from Chester, N.S., took the fourth position in 49erFX at the fourth and next-to-last event of the 2025 Sailing Grand Slam Series, the Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta, held July 12-20 at one of the two Olympic venues for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games in Long Beach, California.

Vilma Bobeck from Sweden, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games silver medalist in 49erFX, finished first with her new teammate Ebba Berntsson, followed by Paris Henken and Helena Scutt from the USA as well as Yingqian Wang and Xiaoya Su from China. The Chinese team ended the event with 44 points, while Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance earned 45 points.

The string of podium results for the Lewin-LaFrance sisters therefore ended at three. Before racing in Long Beach, they won the gold medal last month at the 2025 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 European Championships, in addition to taking bronze at the second and third Sailing Grand Slam Series events of the season, French Olympic Week and Kiel Week.

"It was great to get our first training block in on the Olympic waters here in Long Beach, California," said Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance. "The venue is spectacular, particularly with the strong sea breeze that develops when it's warm with clear skies. We had raceable winds every day for the two weeks we were here. This trip gave us a clear sense of the conditions we'll need to prioritize in our training over the next few years.

"We felt very welcomed by the community, including the Long Beach Yacht Club, which hosted us," they added. "People cheered for us when sailing ashore with the Canadian flag spinnaker. We're really excited to come back soon!

"And a big thank you to RVYC for helping make this trip happen!"

A total of 18 Canadian athletes took part in the event, including several Canadian Sailing Team members as Paris 2024 Olympians Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance from Chester, N.S., in the 49erFX class, as well as Emily Bugeja from Vancouver in Women's Formula Kite. The other Canadian Sailing Team members who competed in Long Beach were James Juhasz (Oakville, ON), Ryan Anderson (Halifax, N.S.) and Liam Bruce (Oakville, ON) in ILCA 7, and Victoria Coady (Coquitlam, B.C.) in ILCA 6.

Canadian results at the 2025 Long Beach Olympic Classes Regatta

ILCA 7 (/52)

14. *Liam Bruce (Oakville, ON)
28. *James Juhasz (Oakville, ON)
29. *Ryan Anderson (Halifax, N.S.)
40. Alexander Heinzemann (Tsawwassen, B.C.)

ILCA 6 (/44)

23. *Victoria Coady (Coquitlam, B.C.)
37. Maya Wolf (Port Moody, B.C.)

Formula Kite (W - /19)

16. *Emily Bugeja (Vancouver, B.C.)
17. Marie-Ève Mayrand (Calgary, AB, and from Quebec City, QC)
18. Claire Ramsey (Kelowna, B.C.)
19. Martyna Dakowicz (Oakville, ON)

Formula Kite (M - /29)

16. Nathan Pearce (North Vancouver, B.C.)
28. Ben Whan (Roblin, ON)

470 (/6)

5. Grace & Kelley Poole (Victoria, B.C.)

49erFX (/11)

4. *Antonia Lewin-Lafrance & Georgia Lewin-LaFrance (Chester, N.S.)
7. Tara & Siobhan Golonka (Victoria, B.C.)
10. Kevin Cason & Wesley Larue

*Members of Sail Canada's National Team