Growing up on Lake Beulah, Stephanie Roble is an East Troy skipper steering her way toward gold.
"I've always had my eye on the Olympics, ever since I found out sailing was in the Olympics," says Roble.
Joined by her teammate, Maggie Shea of Chicago, these two are putting Midwest marks on the map.
"We feel so much love from our Midwest community and excited and proud to represent the Midwest in Japan this summer," says Roble.
Stephanie is equally proud to add her name to the list of elite sailors that hail from Wisconsin.
"Annie Hager who I grew up sailing with was in the Rio Olympics. Buddy Melges, John Ruf from Pewaukee, Sally Barkow," says Roble.
Training for Tokyo, Stephanie, and Maggie is currently working in European waters.
"So we are in Portugal right now, and the venue that we are at has similar conditions to what we likely see in Japan. But Japan could throw us anything. We might have a typhoon come through and have one day of really big waves and really big waves. Or we could be off the land and shifty and puffy winds," says Roble.
Or 'mother nature' could treat Roble-Shea Sailing the way it did the last time the duo competed in Japan.
"It rained for two weeks straight, and I was like are we ever going to see the sun? It was just every day the same thing, soaked from head to toe," says Roble.
Yet, not even those conditions could wash away what Stephanie feels when she thinks of standing on an Olympic podium.
"I am inspired by that thought every single day and have been for the past five years. Of course, it's an absolute dream of mine to bring home an Olympic medal for my family and myself, and I'm just getting choked up thinking about it," says Roble.
