A Long Beach rower with Olympic blood in his veins recently visited Qingdao, China, carrying a flag signed by roughly 100 Olympic medalists and a message about sport bridging oceans. Jack Nunn, a celebrated rower and celebrity trainer, traveled to Qingdao as Long Beach's representative to Qingdao International Sailing Week, which took place in September 2026, witnessing and participating in numerous water-sports events along the way.
A Flag, a Director, and a Family Legacy
Nunn was sent to China by the Long Beach-Qingdao Association, and while there he presented the signed Olympic flag to Zhang Min, director of the Qingdao Sports Development Center, according to the Press Telegram. Nunn said he was honored to represent Long Beach as an ambassador in Qingdao, calling Long Beach the Aquatic Capital of America and Qingdao the Aquatic Capital of China. “Sports can unite people across oceans,” he said, per the same report.
The mission carried personal weight for Nunn beyond the civic assignment. His father, John Nunn, won an Olympic bronze medal in double sculls rowing at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games and later served as head coach of the U.S. men's Olympic rowing squad at the 1976 Montreal Games, according to Voyage LA. Jack Nunn has his own elite pedigree too: before launching his Long Beach fitness business Roworx, he earned a silver medal with the U.S. National Rowing Team in the Eight event at the 2001 World Rowing Championships in Linz, Austria, and has completed 19 full Ironman triathlons, as reported by The Manual.
Forty Years of Civic Ties Between Port Cities
Long Beach and Qingdao formally established their sister city relationship in 1985 and deepened it in 1997 with a formal sister port agreement between the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Qingdao, according to Wikipedia. The Long Beach-Qingdao Association celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2025, and the exchange has included sending several delegations of college students to Qingdao between 2023 and 2026, with Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson heading an official delegation in 2025, per the Press Telegram.
Mary E. Barton, chair emeritus of the Long Beach-Qingdao Sister City Association, reported that Nunn's visit sparked the possibility of sending a team to future International Sailing Week competitions, the outlet notes. Barton assembled a group of sailing and private-boat experts from local marinas when Qingdao marina officials visited Long Beach about 15 years earlier. The association previously sent two groups to Qingdao in 2008, while Qingdao sent a delegation of marina officials to Long Beach in 2011.
From Shipyard to Sailing Hub
Qingdao International Sailing Week was established in 2009 to preserve and leverage the maritime infrastructure built when Qingdao hosted the sailing competitions for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games, according to VisitQingdao.com. The waterfront was transformed from a major shipyard into a sailing venue that now includes a five-star hotel, luxury high-rise housing, restaurants, a marina, and a museum of sailing, the station's report notes, with an Olympic sailing center located near Qingdao's city hall. This year's event included sailing regattas, stand-up paddleboard races, and coastal rowing, the Press Telegram reports. Qingdao, a city of more than 8 million people surrounding a massive bay, has also seen residents snapping up sailboats of their own alongside the city's youth sailing programs.
Long Beach Prepares Its Own Olympic Encore
Long Beach's rowing roots run deep. Marine Stadium was built in 1932 as the first purpose-built man-made rowing course in the United States for the Xth Olympiad and was designated California Historical Landmark No. 1014 in 1994, according to California State Parks. Beyond 1932, the venue hosted U.S. men's Olympic rowing trials in 1968 and 1976 and the U.S. women's Olympic rowing trials in 1984, the agency's records show.
That legacy is about to get a new chapter. During the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with an opening ceremony set for July 14, 2028, Marine Stadium will stage 12 Olympic rowing medal events over a 1,500-meter sprint course and will host Paralympic rowing for the first time in the venue's history, according to World Rowing. Long Beach is set to host 18 Games events and 161 ticketed events at coastal facilities including Marine Stadium, Belmont Shore, Alamitos Beach, and the Long Beach Convention Center.
Women's Sailing and Elite Rowing Hit the Water This Weekend
Long Beach's buildup to 2028 is already visible on the calendar. Long Beach Yacht Club will host the Linda Elias Memorial Women's One Design Challenge from Friday through Sunday, October 9-11, featuring 10 women's racing teams competing on identical Catalina 37 sailboats, the same fleet used in the Congressional Cup, according to the Press Telegram. Founded in 1991 by the Long Beach/Los Angeles Women's Sailing Association, the event was later rededicated in memory of skipper Linda Elias, who won three of the event's first five editions before her death in 2003, per Long Beach Yacht Club. This year's competing skippers include Allie Blecher of California Yacht Club, Lindsay Artof of Del Rey Yacht Club, Sunny Santos of Hawaii Yacht Club, Marilyn Cassedy of Long Beach Sailing Foundation, and Lena Weisskchel of Long Beach Yacht Club. Blecher previously won the event in 2013.
Marine Stadium will simultaneously host the USRowing Long Beach Elite and Community Invitational, a two-day event organized by the Long Beach Rowing Association and USRowing beginning Friday. The invitational will feature six national teams from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Great Britain, and Norway, alongside junior, college and masters crews, the Press Telegram reports. Elite racing is scheduled from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday, with elite teams based on Boathouse Lane and visiting junior, college and masters teams located at Marine Stadium off Appian Way. Boathouse on the Bay will close Thursday evening to host athletes and coaches, with Seal Beach Yacht Club and the Long Beach Boatowners Association providing support vessels; admission is free.
Hanne Chupik, president of the Long Beach Rowing Association, said the coming years offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the sport locally, per the outlet. Alamitos Bay Yacht Club, which counts on 140 members volunteering, will separately host the U.S. Youth Championships in 2026 — the qualifier for the United States team heading to the Youth Sailing World Championships in December 2026. Run by U.S. Sailing for sailors ages 13 to 19 in the ILCA, I420 and 29er classes, the championships require sailors to apply, qualify, or be invited. Long Beach, home to the largest municipal marina in the United States, continues to lean into its identity as a water-sports capital as the city counts down to its Olympic moment.
