University Of Rhode Island Senior Makes 3rd Straight Sailing Championship

KINGSTON, RI — Sept. 17, 2025 — University of Rhode Island senior Okyanus Arikan is heading for her third straight Women’s Singlehanded National Championship, the school announced.

Arikan, a senior kinesiology major, won the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women’s Singlehanded Championship Sept. 12 at Brown University to qualify, the university said in a media release.

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"A member of Turkey’s Olympic team in Tokyo in 2020, Arikan finished with 30 points in 12 races to capture the NEISA singlehanded championship for the first time," the release said. S"he will make her third consecutive appearance at the nationals in November at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. This year’s national championship will be Arikan’s final race competing for URI, making it 'even more special' for the 21-year-old Turkish sailor."

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Arikan beat two-time national champion and 2024 Olympian Sophia Montgomery of Harvard University to win the NEISA championship and qualify for nationals, according to the release.

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“It felt amazing to win this year,” Arikan said in the release. “The level of competition in NEISA is always high, so it was really rewarding to see all the training pay off. Racing against strong sailors made the regatta even more meaningful and valuable.”

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