Graeme Saunders

Biography

As a young racer, Graeme Saunders competed in the 420 class, winning provincial and Atlantic Canadian events. He began sailing with his younger brother Jacob in the fall of 2009. Two years later they started competing in the 470 class, with Graeme crewing and Jacob skippering, and attended the 2011 Junior World Championships. In 2012 they won Sail Canada’s Nathan Cowan Memorial Award for Developing Sailors, following it up the next year with the Marvin McDill Memorial Award, given to the Canadian Sailing Team’s Rookie of the Year. The brothers secured a 470 Olympic berth for Canada at Rio 2016 with their seventh place finish at the Miami World Cup in January 2016. They went on to match their best-ever world championship result with their second straight 32^nd place finish.

Getting to know…

Family: Mother Christie Chaplin-Saunders… Younger brother Jacob is his teammate and skipper… Cousin Mike Patton has represented Canada internationally in cycling… Getting into the Sport: Began competitive sailing at age 13… Outside Interests: Graduated from Dalhousie University in 2014 with a Bachelor of Commerce… Completed the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at Park View Education Centre in 2008…