It didn’t look good.

Louisa Chafee and her partner Bora Gulari had come this far. Winning the privilege to represent the USA in the Olympics held this summer in Rio de Janeiro hadn’t been easy. It had taken months of training and racing.

Then the unexpected happened. Theirs was one of 20 boats from 20 countries vying to race in the medal round. Only 10 boats would be chosen for the final race based on their performance in 12 races over four days. They had to be in the top half of the fleet or they won’t even have the chance to sail for a medal.

On the upwind leg of the first race of the second day of racing in the waters off Rio, it looked like their hard work would be for naught. Both Bora and Louisa, secured by a thin spectra line from the head of the mast, were stretched out over the waves using their weight to counter the heel of the 17-foot catamaran. They were screaming along at about 15 knots.

Suddenly the line holding Bora snapped. He plunged into the water. The boat capsized. Now both of them were in the water, but worst of all they had stopped. Competitors they had been leading swept past them, and dreams of competing for an Olympic medal were fading. They got it back together for the second race, but their trials weren’t over. In the third race, Bora’s line snapped for a second time and again the boat capsized. They would be scored last plus penalty points for not finishing in two races. It looked hopeless.

Louisa, daughter of former Gov. Lincoln Chafee, described the feeling Thursday to members of the Warwick Rotary Club. It seemed daunting. They had come this far only to have equipment failures set them back.

“We can do this,” Louisa said, describing how she and Bora focused on sailing their boat. It’s that purpose and commitment Chafee admires in his daughter.

In introducing her, Chafee described how as a student at Potowomut School she showed her siblings the proper way to throw a ball as taught her by her physical education teacher. Chafee said he realized she had paid close attention to the instruction and had an appreciation of the mechanics of what she was doing. Years later when Louisa was a student at Brown University, Chafee recalled asking her what she wanted to do and remembers her saying being “an All-American.” He said his first thought, even though he didn’t say anything to her, was “you better make the team first.”

By the third day of racing at Rio, with new lines in place, Louisa said “they were in the groove.” They had the boat moving, but because of the earlier races it seemed unlikely theirs would be one of the 10 boats to compete for a medal. Rather than looking at the points and focusing on what boats they would need to beat, they stuck to their game plan to concentrate on sailing. Louisa’s job, requiring strength, agility, and an understanding of the dynamics of sailing, was to hoist and trim the sails. As skipper, Bora drove the boat and was the tactician.

When they finished the last of the qualifying races, they had done well enough to race for a medal.

“I’m going to do everything I can to bring home a medal,” Louisa told herself. They performed well, proving themselves as competitors. Louisa and Bora finished fourth in that final race.

She hasn’t lost that passion to compete or to bring home an Olympic medal. The Olympic committee hasn’t decided what classes of boats will compete in the 2020 summer games in Tokyo. Conceivably, the Nacra 17 won’t be selected. That doesn’t faze Louisa. She may have to learn the techniques of another boat and find another partner.

She is already working toward the 2020 games, looking to gain 15 pounds, weight she could have used at Rio. Staying strong enough is something she thinks about and works at.

Olympic sailing, as made clear by her pictures of hoisting sails and being splashed by waves, is nothing like sunset cruises in the Caribbean. It takes physical and mental strength.

Louisa glowed describing the experience of the Olympics and the opening ceremony where 500 American athletes waiting in the tunnel of the stadium took up the chant “USA” before entering the arena filled thousands and the flash of fireworks. She wants to be on the team again. She’s planning to compete in the waters off Tokyo.

Asked after her talk what was going through her mind after the second equipment failure, Louisa said, “it was so emotionally draining … Our thoughts were simply, there goes our medal chances’ after all the hard work we’d put into training.”

But that disappointment hasn’t drowned her passion to represent this country again.

And yes, she made All American sailing for the Brown team, not once, but three times.