As a youth sailor in Coronado, Hans Henken earned the nickname “15 minutes” from his coach Jon Rogers.
“He would leave the dock 15 minutes before everyone else and he would stay out, get extra practice and get back to dock 15 minutes after everyone else. He was a great teammate as he made everyone around him better,” Rogers said.
These 15 extra minutes compounded over the years paid off for the 2010 Coronado High School graduate, as Henken was recently named to the U.S. National Sailing Team and will compete at this summer’s Olympic Games in France.
Henken and his teammate, Ian Barrows, compete in the Men’s Double-Handed Skiff Event aboard a 4.9 meter sailboat in the 49er classification.
Years in the making
Coronado High School is no stranger to students going on to accomplish great athletic feats after their time on the island, with notable alumni including three-time water polo Olympian Layne Beaubien and Olympic water polo players Jesse Smith and Genai Kerr.
Henken, 31, is joining their ranks. He said it has always been a dream to represent his country in the sport he has a passion for, a dream he has been working towards for years now.
“I have been training and competing on the U.S. National Sailing Team since 2013 and before that, I was on the U.S. National Development Sailing Team since 2008. Since I was a kid, I have also wanted to compete at the Olympic Games,” Henken said. “So to be able to say that I will be going to the Olympics in Paris this summer means the world to me and it’s a lot of hard work coming together.”
Family ties
After moving to Coronado from Dana Point when he was 13, Henken began to compete for the locally based Coronado Yacht Club. It was here in the south bay of San Diego that he first experienced high level racing and instruction.
Henken credits his success to a handful of coaches and mentors — from youth coaches Jon Rogers and Mark Gaudio, to his collegiate sailing coach at Stanford, John Vandemoer, to his mentor and coach for the past 15 years, Charlie McKee.
After multiple trials and subsequent failures, Henken emphasized the meaningfulness of this long awaited nomination.
“I have competed and trained for four Olympics and have come up short. So to have finally succeeded this time feels awesome.”
Hans Henken
“I have competed and trained for four Olympics and have come up short. So to have finally succeeded this time feels awesome,” Henken said.
Henken’s passion for the sport is rooted in family ties as his mother was an avid sailor.
“She was the sailor in the family and introduced me to sailing when I was four-years old. Both my sister, my brother and my wife are all excellent sailors,” Henken said.
Henken’s wife and sister were both Olympians in 2016.
Life as an Olympic sailor
Competing at an Olympic and World Championship level requires intense training combined with sheer talent.
Henken said they typically spend six days a week training three to five hours on the water, practicing and improving techniques and skills, working on specific drills much like other sports.
“I spend three to four mornings a week in the gym,” Henken added. “I have time devoted to maintenance on our equipment to make sure it’s all working properly, debriefs on how training is going, debriefs on weather as it greatly affects our sailing decision making, a good sleep schedule and making sure the fridge is properly stocked.”
Henken possesses a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Stanford and plans to work in the space industry after his sailing career is complete. Working as a full time athlete, Hans does not get paid to sail.
“I’m a full time athlete currently, training and competing for the Olympic Games has been my ‘job’ for the past 4 years,” Henken explained. “I have to fundraise each quarter to be able to afford to keep competing which is just as challenging as the sailing in my honest opinion.”
Henken and Barrows are sponsored by the U.S. Sailing Team, the Windmark Sailing Foundation, America One Racing, the St. Francis Sailing Foundation and the Sailing Foundation of New York. Hans currently represents “Whoop” as an affiliate athlete, and “Team Nuun” as an ambassador.
Although Henken has long-term sights set on the Olympics, his next competition is the World Championships in Lanzarote, Spain, in early March. Those who are interested can follow along at www.barrowshenkenracing.com.
