FROM LINCOLN TO PARIS 2024: MEET OUR OLYMPIC SAILING CHAMPION

Dominique Stater, Class of 2019, competes as a USA Olympic Sailor in Paris 2024. Learn more about the life of this remarkable change agent!

At Lincoln, we encourage learners to pursue sports and activities that help them build perseverance, commitment, self-confidence, and leadership. As a kid, Dominique Stater, Class of 2019, had a determined mind to cultivate all these skills. During her high school years at Lincoln, she showed a passion for water sports. Now, at only 23 years old, she is competing for the first time in the Women’s Windsurfer (iQFOil) at the Olympics representing the USA Team! 

Because of the switch from traditional windsurfing, Dominique debuted on July 28, 2024, with a hydrofoil that lifts the board off the water and reaches an average speed four times faster than traditional boards. As she flies with this new foiling equipment in Marseille, France, she makes history as the first Women’s iQFOiL Olympian. 

“I’m ready to hit the water with one goal in mind!” Dominique shared on her social media. Embracing challenges shows the resilience that comes with international learners. Originally from Miami, she lived in Nicaragua, Peru, Chile, and Colombia. Besides traveling around South America, she also tried different sports: gymnastics, equestrian events, and snow skiing. 

With a life on the go, her Lincoln journey had two chapters. She attended school from 2012 to 2015 and re-entered in 2017 to graduate in 2019. During her time in Buenos Aires, at only 12 years old, Dominique longed to be one of the kite and windsurfers sailing in the Río de la Plata.  Soon after, and with a sailing center near her house, she learned to windsurf. 

All the hours of training with American and Argentine coaches and preparation with a rigorous fitness program led to the Techno 293 windsurfer at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Argentina, where she sailed representing the USA. From there, she aimed higher! 

New challenges came with the Youth World Championships in China and Poland. But besides developing as an athlete, Dominique also focused on academics. After graduating from Lincoln, she attended the University of Miami. Though she was a college student, windsurfing was still there as she taught sailing and windsurfing to kids at the Biscayne Bay Yacht Club. 

With the launch of the iQFOiL, the new Olympic windsurfing class, her interest in the sport rekindled. After the International Olympic Committee replaced traditional boards with the foil for the Paris games, she had once again only “one goal in mind,” this time with a full-time commitment. “Ever since the Youth Olympics in Argentina, I have always dreamed of going to the big games,” she shared on her Instagram account. 

In 2023, with college on hold, Dominique represented her home country at the Pan American Games in Chile and won a silver medal. Shortly after, she completed 27 races in eight days, won the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, and qualified for this year’s Olympics. 

Drive may be what describes our alumni community best. Dominique is now the third former student to become an Olympic athlete. Laura Ábalo, Class of 1999, competed in rowing at the London Olympics 2012; and Liliana Guiscardo, also Class of 1999, competed in Swimming at the Summer Olympics Beijing 2008.