Stanford Graduate Hans Henken to Make Olympic Sailing Debut in Paris

Hans Henken, a California native and Stanford graduate, is set to make his Olympic sailing debut in Paris later this month. Despite being an alternate on the US Olympic sailing team in Rio and not qualifying for Tokyo, Hans has persevered and secured his spot for the 2024 Olympic Games. Hans and his teammate, Ian Barrows, clinched their place by winning the men’s Skiff event at the US Olympic trials in January. Hans attributes much of his success to his aeronautical and astronautical engineering degree from Stanford, which has provided him with a significant competitive edge in the sport. "One of the biggest parts of sailing is maintaining and tuning your equipment. The performance edge of getting that right is huge, and knowing and understanding the engineering behind that and being able to apply that to sailing has been a huge competitive advantage for me," Hans explained. Now 31 years old, Hans was introduced to sailing by his mother, who enrolled him in a sailing summer camp when he was just four years old. As the 2024 Olympic Games draw nearer, Hans is ready to showcase his skills and determination on the world stage.