Lara Dallman-Weiss has been to the Olympics twice. She wants that feeling one more time, and this time, it's at home.
The two-time Olympian is training for the Los Angeles Games, competing in the 470 sailing class, and says everything is aligned for her best performance yet.
"I have truly sacrificed everything. I've put every decision in my life towards this. I have the dream situation right in front of me on a platter. The resources are there, the teammate's there. I have a home games like who gets that?" Dallman-Weiss said.
Dallman-Weiss grew up in Minnesota, went to college on the West Coast, and now trains on Florida's East Coast. Her path to sailing wasn't a straight line. She loved basketball, the Winter Olympics, and track, but didn't see a professional future in any of them. That changed in college.
"One of my coaches said I'm the perfect size for the 470, and as soon as he said that, there was no turning back," Dallman-Weiss said.
The sport demands far more than time on the water. She describes the grind as offshore tasks, working out, building partnerships, raising funds, container loads, boat maintenance, and more.
"It just makes it like three full-time jobs in one and super fun," Dallman-Weiss said.
Her favorite part of sailing is the teamwork, collaboration, and community that comes with chasing a common goal. But when she was coming up in the sport, she noticed something missing: role models who looked like her.
"I couldn't find the role model that I wanted to see when I was younger in sailing, and I couldn't find women that were amazing sailors that got results and they embrace their femininity, work really hard. You can be a kind person, but you can also come off the water and dress up. When you want to put on heels, you can put on makeup and if that makes you feel good and confident, then do it," Dallman-Weiss said.
That sense of community extends beyond the sport. She has a message for women at every level.
"As women, we need community, and we need relationships with each other. Fight to have them. Fight to lift your friends up. If you get any sort of attention, take it as a compliment. It means that you're doing something that's worth living for, and you're doing good work," Dallman-Weiss said.
For Dallman-Weiss, competing under the USA logo carries a weight she welcomes.
"You represent your country. You're representing every little girl that wants to go sailing. You're representing everyone that puts in the hard work. You're representing the people that you beat at the Olympic trials, everyone who came before you, the Olympians from Minnesota, like each part of you that makes you, you, you're representing them. Your country. Like you know everyone who sacrifices for our country," Dallman-Weiss said.
She says she has felt that pressure twice and is ready to feel it again.
"I've had it twice and I want it again, and I'm ready to peak at my home games. And we got a birthday coming up 250 years like LA is going to be buzzing, so I tell everyone they should go find a way to go," Dallman-Weiss said.
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