KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 17, 2025 — Okyanus Arikan, a senior kinesiology major on the University of Rhode Island club sailing team, won the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women’s Singlehanded Championship September 12 at Brown University to qualify for the Women’s Singlehanded National Championship for the third year in a row.

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. She 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.

Even more impressive, Arikan beat out two-time national champion and 2024 Olympian Sophia Montgomery of Harvard University to bring home the NEISA championship and punch her return ticket to nationals.

“It felt amazing to win this year,” Arikan said. “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.”

Six conference winners, including the NEISA winner, receive automatic berths in the Inter-Collegiate Sailing Association Women’s Singlehanded National Championship while the remainder of the field is comprised of sailors earning at-large bids. 

In 2023, Arikan finished third in the NEISA singlehanded championships to qualify for the nationals at Tulane University, where she finished sixth out of 18 sailors in her first national championship appearance in the United States. A year later, Arikan earned another at-large bid to the nationals in St. Petersburg, Florida, and finished third – just two spots behind Montgomery.

“College sailing has a very different format compared to other competitions in the world, so it was important for me to adapt,” she said. “My experiences in 2023 and 2024 helped me grow and feel more confident going into this year.”

URI club sailing head coach Joakim Karlsen, who, in 2023, said Arikan could bring a national title in college singlehanded sailing to URI before she graduates, now considers the senior skipper one of the favorites among what will be a competitive field come November. The rest of the field for nationals will be announced in mid-October by the College Sailing Selection Committee.

“Okyanus sailed incredibly well this year [at the NEISA championships] and showed why she should be considered a favorite,” Karlsen said. “There are many great sailors in our conference who are capable of winning the regatta. She has now proven that she can do it. The national championship will be a tough event with many great competitors vying for the top spot and we will be in the mix fighting for it.”

“It’s very important who you surround yourself with, especially when competing at a high level,” Arikan said. “Knowing that my coach believes in me has given me confidence and motivation.”

Michael Parente, director of communications and marketing in the URI Division of Student Affairs, wrote this news release.