Barrington's Katie McDowell and partner Isabelle Kinsolving of New York City earned berths on the 2004 US Olympic team after winning the Women's 470 sailing competition at the US Olympic Trials in Houston, Tex., Sunday.

"It's wonderful. I don't think it's really sunk in yet," McDowell said. "We've got one goal down and one to go."

The goal of which McDowell speaks is earning a medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. McDowell and Kinsolving, who won the trials by three points over Amanda Clark and Sarah Mergenthaler, have much more work ahead before vying in the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad Aug. 13-29.

Isabelle Kinsolving (front) and Katie McDowell sail their 470 in Galveston Bay.

"We've got 10 months now to do some more serious work," said McDowell. "We'll be focused on improving the weaknesses of our game. We'll do a lot of training with our coaches and with Paul Foerster and Kevin Burnham, who won the men's 470."

The duo got off to a fast start at the trials by winning the first three races. However, the eventual runners-up caught McDowell and mate the second day of racing. McDowell and Kinsolving regained a comfortable margin with a pair of wins before Clark and Mergenthaler won two of the next three races to narrow the gap to three points.

"We had five great boats there and it was difficult to gain points on the other teams," McDowell said. "It was a pressure cooker. You put all your eggs into one basket and then it was time to perform. You put a lot of pressure on yourself."

The eighth day of the regatta McDowell and Kinsolving finished fifth and then fourth in the first two races. Luckily for them, the second-place sailors recorded the same finishes in the opposite races. McDowell and Kinsolving then finished second in the final race of the day while Clark and Mergenthaler were third. That left McDowell and mate with a five-point lead heading into the final day of racing.

The Olympic tandem went out and clinched first place with a bullet in the first of two races. Clark and Mergenthaler finished second in the race but there was no mathematical way they could catch McDowell and Kinsolving.

"We had some real good days," McDowell said. But the days we really won the regatta were the days we went 3-2-3, days like that," McDowell said. "We were in fifth place in a couple of those races. But we had the conviction we could climb back. We were determined to finish higher and we ground our way back."

The winning duo continue to learn their strengths and weaknesses. They found they performed well in light air and in windy conditions. But they also learned they had problems sailing under other specific circumstances.

"We struggled in mid-velocity, 10-to-14-knot conditions," McDowell said. "We've got to do some fine-tuning with how to set up the boat. There are so many variables, a lot of different combinations to work with. We're just not the fastest yet in mid-velocity conditions."

McDowell and Kinsolving, the top-ranked women's 470 pair heading into the trials, will now take a well-deserved rest. McDowell, driving to Rhode Island from Texas after a stop in North Carolina, she would probably be home this weekend.

"We'll take at least two weeks off, most likely like a month. We won't have anything to do with sailing," McDowell said. "I'll go in the gym and work on strength training and endurance. I'm going to enjoy the break."

By Steve Rogers

srogers@eastbaynewspapers.com