Brown Mourns the Passing of Sailing Student-Athlete Liam O’Keefe
6/10/2024 2:00:00 PM | Coed Sailing
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown Athletics mourns the passing of sailing student-athlete Liam O'Keefe. A rising junior concentrating in design engineering, O'Keefe passed away in a tragic accident on Friday, May 31 in his home state of Florida.
As a member of Brown's varsity sailing team, Liam was named a two-time ICSA (Intercollegiate Sailing Association) All-American Open Skipper, a two-time All-New England Open First Team Skipper, and was instrumental in helping Brown win the Leonard M. Fowle Memorial Trophy for the overall top team in college sailing for the 2023-24 season. He represented Brown at the Open Team Race Nationals in 2023 and 2024 with two top-four finishes, led Brown to the program's first-ever ICSA Match Race National Championship in 2023, and just recently finished fourth place at the ICSA Open Fleet Racing National Championship. As a first-year student, he was named the New England Open Rookie of the Year, the winner of Brown's Cub Award as the top freshman male student-athlete by SAAC, winner of Brown Sailing's Brooke Gonzalez Award as the most courageous freshman on the team and was a freshman captain.
During high school, he also spent time as a youth sailing coach, he was a world champion in team racing in the Optimist class, won multiple C420 team racing national championships, finished on the podium at the high school national championships, and had high aspirations of becoming a professional sailor.
A native of Miami, Florida and 2021 graduate of Ransom Everglades High School, O'Keefe is survived by his parents Alison and Douglas O'Keefe, and his siblings Sawyer and Mac.
As a member of Brown's varsity sailing team, Liam was named a two-time ICSA (Intercollegiate Sailing Association) All-American Open Skipper, a two-time All-New England Open First Team Skipper, and was instrumental in helping Brown win the Leonard M. Fowle Memorial Trophy for the overall top team in college sailing for the 2023-24 season. He represented Brown at the Open Team Race Nationals in 2023 and 2024 with two top-four finishes, led Brown to the program's first-ever ICSA Match Race National Championship in 2023, and just recently finished fourth place at the ICSA Open Fleet Racing National Championship. As a first-year student, he was named the New England Open Rookie of the Year, the winner of Brown's Cub Award as the top freshman male student-athlete by SAAC, winner of Brown Sailing's Brooke Gonzalez Award as the most courageous freshman on the team and was a freshman captain.
During high school, he also spent time as a youth sailing coach, he was a world champion in team racing in the Optimist class, won multiple C420 team racing national championships, finished on the podium at the high school national championships, and had high aspirations of becoming a professional sailor.
A native of Miami, Florida and 2021 graduate of Ransom Everglades High School, O'Keefe is survived by his parents Alison and Douglas O'Keefe, and his siblings Sawyer and Mac.
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