Kevin Burnham's Chronology

2005

• Kevin and his teammate Paul Foerster win the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year Award, the most prestigious honorary award in US Sailing.
• Kevin makes his name in offshore sailing, winning the Pineapple Cup, Montego Bay Race and setting the record for the "Most Miles Sailed in a Day" in the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge.
• Kevin won the Melges 24 Division of Key West Race Week and Boat of the Week.

2004

• Kevin wins the Gold Medal in the 470 at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. He is the oldest Gold Medalist in the 2004 Olympics.
• The image of Kevin doing a back flip off the 470 as he crosses the finish line of the last race of the Olympics Games is printed in magazines and newspapers all over the World.
• Kevin and his teammate Paul Foerster are named 2004 TEAM OF THE YEAR by the US Olympic Committee.
• Kevin and Paul land on the cover of Seahorse Magazine in Europe.
• The Village of Key Biscayne proclaim August 21, 2004 "Kevin Burnham Day."
• Kevin opens the New York Stock Exchange in order to promote the 2012 Olympics in New York City.

2003

• Kevin and teammate Paul Foerster upset the Europeans by winning the 470 European Championship.
• In November Kevin and Paul so dominate the 2004 Olympic Team Trials that they are able to sit out the final three races after mathematically securing the win. In the afterglow of the win, Kevin reflected that "Sometimes you just have those regattas where everything just seems to click and this was one of those."

2002

• Kevin teams up with Paul Foerster in the 470 for another try at the Olympic Games.
• Racing as tactician on the Farr 60 Rima, Kevin wins Key West Race Week in the IMS Class.

2001

• Kevin watches the 470 Worlds in Slovenia and decides to come out of retirement with a renewed interest to win the Gold.
• Kevin sails as tactician on the classic J-Class boat Shamrock in the America's Cup Jubilee Regatta.

2000

• At the 2000 US Olympic Team Trials, Kevin and Morgan finish a disappointing second to Paul Foerster and Bob Merrick.

1999

• Kevin and Morgan decide to try it again and begin campaigning for the 2000 US Olympic Trials.
• Seventeen people, including Kevin, set the record in Annapolis to Newport Race on a Santa Cruz 70.

1997-1998

• Kevin takes a break from sailing to spend time with his daughter Kyla who was born in 1997.

1996

• Kevin wins his second trip to the Olympic Games sailing with Morgan Reeser in the 470.
• Kevin carries the Olympic Torch through Miami on its way to the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
• Kevin and Morgan finish a disappointing 6th place out of 36 boats in the Olympics, after being called over early in a race they won. Kevin returns home heart broken.
• After the Games, Kevin takes off to do some offshore sailing and races in the 4th annual Copa Galapagos Race, from Ecuador to the Galapagos Islands.

1995

• Kevin has a great year in the 470 sailing with Morgan Reeser, winning his 8th 470 National Championship and placing 5th in the 470 World Championship.
• Sailing Medalist magazine features Kevin and Morgan sailing a 470 on the cover.
• Kevin wins the Etchell 22 National Championship.

1994

• Kevin wins his 7th 470 National Championship!

1993

• Kevin and Morgan Reeser begin another Olympic Campaign, determined to change their Silver Medal into Gold. They start they year off right, winning the 470 Midwinter Championship. This is the 7th 470 Midwinter Championship that Kevin wins.
• Sperry Topsider signs Kevin to promote Sperry Topsiders at Belk Department stores, from Georgia to Virginia.

1992

• Kevin and Morgan win the US Olympic Trials in Newport Beach, CA and qualify for a spot to the Olympic Games.
• The Morgan Reeser and Kevin Burnham 470 team win a Silver Medal in the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

1991

• Kevin and Morgan sell t-shirts and lemonade at University of Miami football games and raffle off donated airline tickets and cruises in order to raise money to buy a new 470. They attract the attention of Key Biscayne Yacht Club which named them honorary life members and donated $10,000 to build a new boat.
• Kevin places 1st in the Florida District Lightning Championships

1990

• Kevin and Morgan Reeser begin training for the 1992 Olympics off right by winning the 470 North American Championship.
• Kevin lands on the cover of Sailing World Magazine in June for racing in the Ziploc Series in Oahu, Hawaii with Ed Baird.

1989

• Kevin embarks on a 1000 mile race from Miami Beach to Virginia Beach on a 21 foot catamaran with Randy Smythe and wins the Worrell 1000 Mile Championship.
• Kevin spends the summer in Maui windsurfing and mountain biking before resuming 470 sailing with Morgan Reeser.

1988

• Five weeks before the US Olympic Trials, Kevin breaks his ankle windsurfing in Montauk, NY on the same beach as he ruptured his bicep two years early. Kevin cuts off his cast to race in the Olympic Trials, but is unable to perform.

1987-88

• Kevin expands his sailing to include catamaran racing. Two years in a row he wins the Pro Sail National Championship in the Formula 40 class.

1986

• Kevin wins the Goodwill Games in Estonia with Morgan Reeser.
• Later that year while surfing in Montauk, NY, Kevin ruptures his bicep tendon. He spends the next year and a half rehabilitating his bicep at the Center for Sports Medicine in NYC.

1984

• Kevin's son Eddie is born.
• Kevin competes in his first US Olympic Trials with Pete Melvin. Going into the last race, Pete and Kevin still have a chance to win, but lose to Kevin's earlier teammate Steve Benjamin.

1983

• Kevin wins his first 470 National Championship.

1981

• Pete Melvin and Kevin team up in the 470 to train for the next Olympic Games.
• They win their first 470 North American Championship.

1980

• The United States boycotts the Olympic Games, and the Olympic Trials for sailing are cancelled, crushing Kevin's opportunity to go the Olympics.

1978

• Kevin returns to Miami and continues training in the 470, while working as a sailmaker at Fowler Sails.

1977

• Kevin takes a hiatus from University of Miami and goes to New Haven to train for the Olympics at the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club in the 470 class, the doublehanded men's sailing event in the Olympics.
• Kevin competes in first 470 World Championship with Steve Benjamin in Japan.

1975

• Kevin graduates from Coral Gables High School and enters as a freshman at the University of Miami that fall.
• At the age of 19 Kevin first sets sail in a 470 dinghy with Steve Benjamin.
• Kevin learns that Sailing is a sport in the Olympic Games and gets hooked on sailing fast planing boats.

1968

• Kevin drains the gas out of his father's keelboat, so that they cannot leave the harbor and Kevin does not have to go on the Family Sunday Cruise. OOPS!

1965

• At the age of 8 Kevin sails on his first trip in the Ocean, from Palm Beach to the Bahamas with his family.

1964

• Kevin moves to Palm Beach, FL and first goes sailing on his family's Columbia 22.

1956

• Kevin Burnham born in New York City, NY