Lara Dallman Weiss ’11, an Olympic sailor shown here at the recent 2024 Olympics, will serve as Eckerd College’s 63rd Commencement speaker. Photo courtesy Sailing Energy
Lara Dallman Weiss ’11 fondly remembers sitting next to her Eckerd College roommate at Commencement and taking in the scene.
“There was just the feeling of being proud of spending four years dedicated to something and excited for what comes next,” she recalls. “We were surrounded by so many professors and families that loved us.”
That moment is coming full circle for the Olympic sailor from Minnesota on May 17, when she will serve as the speaker for Eckerd College’s 63rd Annual Commencement Ceremony. President Jim Annarelli extended the invitation to the accomplished alumna, who has sailed for Team USA in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics and is preparing to compete in the Los Angeles 2028 games.
Even after all her accomplishments, she counts the opportunity to address Eckerd’s graduating seniors as a big moment in her life. “It’s such an honor and a privilege,” Dallman Weiss says. Her speech is still top secret, but the meaning behind her address will be greater than the sum of its parts.
“It’s been a really cool process. I have these notes on my notes app on my phone and anytime I have something I’m brainstorming, I’ll just write it down,” Dallman Weiss explains. “I was around for Reunion Weekend, so I was asking a couple of the seniors and it’s important for me to connect back to the students. So I was getting to know a little bit about them and kind of building off of that.”
Dallman Weiss
She may have the inside track on the needs of the Class of 2026. Her Mixed 470 sailing partner for the next Olympic games, Justin Callahan, also graduates this spring from another institution. The two have teamed up to prepare and even took a trip to the competition site in 2025 to get a feel for the place.
“We spent last August there and it was beautiful… great sailing, weather, seals, a lot of wildlife, a lot of kelp, but we wanted to come and learn the venue, learn the weather, but also, you know, find out where your favorite coffee shop is and all the other important things that help you off the water,” Dallman Weiss says.
Getting a feel for a place is how she connects. It’s how she chose Eckerd.
Dallman Weiss received the Margaret Rigg Outstanding Alumna Award at Eckerd College’s Reunion Weekend in March.
“I went down to visit with my dad and it was just such an incredible, inspiring place. I just had the feeling that this was the school for me,” Dallman Weiss says.
Faculty embraced her and helped her find her passion. Dallman Weiss credits her mentor, Associate Professor of Biology Denise Flaherty, for helping her make her academic experience as rewarding as her athletic career.
“I told her I was interested in nutrition and so we looked at what the course load for nutrition would look like at other schools and built my major around psychology and biology classes,” she recalls. “I love Eckerd so much because it allowed that. It allowed me to be my true self—which is always unique and going against the grain.”
At the recent alumni awards breakfast, Dallman Weiss (center) had a chance to reunite with her mentors, Associate Professor of Biology Denise Flaherty, Ph.D. (left) and former Associate Director of Athletics Bill Matthews ’79 (right).
With her degree in wellness counseling and nutrition, Dallman Weiss sailed professionally, coached, spoke to young athletes and made the U.S. Olympic Team. As an athlete, she wears many hats that include fundraising and logistics. Olympic sailors need to raise $200,000 annually to train and compete. The interdisciplinary approach at Eckerd prepared her for the rigors of being her own advocate.
“I think Eckerd showed me that it’s always worth fighting for if there’s something that you want badly. You’re going to find the support to make it happen and if you just keep going after it. It’s kind of like my major. I had the right people supporting me and built my own major. That’s Olympic campaigns, you get told ‘No,’ a lot and you’re basically running a small business. But you have that end goal in mind, and so I think having the confidence to just make it all work—that really came from Eckerd.”
The 63rd Commencement Ceremony will begin at 8 a.m., Sunday, May 17. Viewers can livestream the event at ecekrd.edu/commencement.
Dallman Weiss was invited to speak at Commencement by President Jim Annarelli, Ph.D., who was vice president of student affairs and dean of students when she was an undergrad.
