East Troy yacht club helps Olympian get her start

An Olympic sailor from Wisconsin is getting some enthusiastic support from community members in her hometown of East Troy.

At Lake Beulah Yacht Club, sisters Katie Murphy and Kristine McNeil told TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin their friend Stephanie Roble is a bit of an icon.

"She's a tenacious competitor,” Murphy said. “She always talks about how she tries to work harder than everybody every single day, and we've seen that."

TMJ4, Tahleel Mohieldin

Roble has made it to the 2024 Paris Olympics, her second trip to the games after competing in Tokyo. The folks at the East Troy club couldn't be prouder.

“It's just very fun to be her cheerleader, to be able to see her on the world stage,” McNeil said. “Every single day she's competing, when I should be working, it's refresh, refresh, refresh."

TMJ4, Tahleel Mohieldin

Murphy, who grew up sailing with Roble, said it was on Lake Beulah that the competitive sailor got her start, crushing the competition at just five years old.

“We actually won our first race we ever sailed together,” Murphy recalled. “We only had to beat one other boat, but we did."

East Troy local Brian Brickler was Roble’s coach at the time.

TMJ4, Tahleel Mohieldin

“She was like a sponge, always wanted to learn, was here early, asked questions,” Brickler said. "To see her progress from that where she was such a little girl to now being in the Olympics for the second time is just unbelievable."

Watch: Stephanie Roble's childhood friends cheer her on in the Olympics.

East Troy yacht club helps Olympian get her start

Murphy said it was that dedication to the sport and strong work ethic at such a young age that landed Roble on an international stage.

For Murphy, Roble’s second time at the Olympics is even more exciting than the last.

“She’s more mentally strong. She’s more physically strong,” Murphy said. “She’s ready.”

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