Andrew Campbell spent last summer in Brazil at the Pan-Am Games and plans to sail the Australian and European leagues this winter and spring.

Now the 2006 SFS graduate has plans for August.

In a tight-as-possible weeklong Olympic trial ending Sunday in Newport, R.I., Campbell overcame a late deficit and held on to earn the United States’ spot in Laser sailing at the 2008 Olympics.

Campbell, a San Diego native, and Brad Funk, 28, of Clearwater, Fla., both finished with 44 points over the 16-race event, but Campbell won the right to sail in Beijing, holding an advantage in first-place finishes, 5 to 4, thanks to his late run.

“On Saturday we had three races. [Funk] didn’t catch as many breaks and I capitalized on his mistakes,” Campbell said. “I was ahead by five points going into the last day and at that point I just held on.”

Funk held a slim but steady six-point lead heading into the second to last day of sailing, separating himself from Campbell after a week of flip-flopping with the former four-time all-American. No racers were within 40 points of the duo, and as the week progressed, it became clear the last two days would be the Funk-Campbell show.

Funk blinked first in the final clash of the titans.

“I stumbled badly at the US Sailing Olympic Selection Trials for the Laser Class yesterday and gave away the series lead,” Funk wrote on his blog Sunday.

Campbell took full advantage, finishing ahead of Funk in all three races Saturday to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point advantage heading into the last day of racing.

After leaving the door open for Campbell to stamp his ticket to China, Funk rallied back Sunday, taking a one-point lead entering the final race, meaning he would have to beat Campbell to clinch the Olympic spot.

In the pivotal race, Campbell finished second, Funk third. Recent Harvard graduate Clay Johnson took first in the final race, his fourth first-place finish of the trials. Johnson announced his status as one of the best young sailors competing with Team USA, but Campbell cemented his standing as its eminence.

Mike Callahan (SFS ’97), Georgetown’s sailing coach since 1998, knew Campbell’s four years of collegiate sailing prepared him for a nail-biting finish.

“He’s used to the pressure. We had a lot of those types of races while he was here and for the program it’s big,” Callahan said of the Hoyas’ first sailing Olympian.

But the second-to-last race of the trial almost decided the whole thing. Around the windward mark, controversy struck as Funk believed Campbell did not yield right of way as the rules require. Funk unsuccesfully filed a protest with race officials afterwards, but the judges saw the events as Campbell and a slew of Georgetown supporters in attendence did.

“He tried sailing me off into the spectator fleet,” Campbell said. “I kept clear as much as I could and there are judges on the water. … We had three protests between the two of us in the last three days so it’s something we’re used to.”

The protest’s result was almost inconsequential as Campbell spent the last 12 races on razor’s edge. Each sailor is allowed to drop his worst score after eight races and Campbell dropped an uncharacteristic 20th on his record while Funk’s worst finish was just ninth among several firsts and seconds and the occasional fifth.

“That hurt a lot,” Campbell said. “It put a lot of presure on me the whole way through but it helped me keep my focus. If I had another low score we were going to change strategy and become more aggressive. As it turned out, the more conservative strategy worked.”

Campbell’s strategies have been working since winning his third single-handed national championship his senior year and helping Georgetown to a team national title.

“I’ve been sailing full time,” he says. “As soon as I left the national championships, I left straight for Europe to race.”

With professional racing going on in Australia during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer and a spring European league taking Campbell to Italy and the Netherlands, there has been no shortage of race time.

Campbell said that time spent on the professional circuit and traveling internationally gave him an edge over sailors like Johnson, a relative amateur.

“I’ve been sailing professionally for more than 12 months now,” Campbell said. “Clay’s been out of Harvard just since May. That extra time helps as far as knowing what to expect and preparing physically.”

Until the Olympics come to a close, Campbell will sail with Team USA, but there is a professional circuit that has helped support him since he left Healy gates.

“Next year they’re going to start calling them World Cup events like the skiing world cup,” he said. “There’ll be races in mid-December to January in Australia then the European season and the European championships.

“Professional sailing is pretty sustainable. There’s the America’s Cup and then races in Australia and Italy and we go to one in Germany. With the economy the way it is, it’s been working pretty well.”

While some high-level Laser sailors are not sailing for their college teams and focusing solely on international competition, Callahan is thankful Campbell spent so much time with the Hoyas. Campbell took off the fall semester of his sophomore year to train for and compete in the Olympic trials four years ago, but did not qualify.

“While he was here, he learned team racing which is something he didn’t do,” Callahan said. “He poured his heart and soul to the team, knowing that he’d have a year to train for the Olympic trials.”

The result then? A national title for Georgetown. Now, the payoff could be even sweeter.

Said Callahan: “He’s got a legitimate shot at winning a medal if things go his way.”