Tucker Dupree is 22 years old, visually impaired athlete who has excelled in the sport of swimming. Tucker lost his vision at age 17 when he was diagnosed with a rare disease called Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON).
Tucker, a gold medalist and world record holder, is one of the top blind swimmers in America holding a World Record in the 50m and 100m Butterfly, 36 American Records and 7 Pan-American Records.
Tucker continues to inspire everyone with his positive attitude and outlook on life. He is very determined who focuses on his ability and not his disability as he strives to achieve his goals.
As of last week I moved from the Olympic Training Center(OTC) in Colorado to Clinton Township, Michigan. Leaving the OTC hard decision to make, however, a great opportunity opened up and one that I could not turn down.
I finished up my first week of training with the Oakland Grizzlies and enjoyed every practice. The team is very driven and pushes hard through every workout. I am super pumped to receive this great opportunity and to get geared up for the summer games. The program is set up to take me to the next level of competition and prepare me for claiming gold at the 2012 Paralympic Games held in London, England, August 29-September 9.
My next meet is the 9th Annual GTAC Disability Meet held on May 19-20 at the University of Cincinnati. This is a great meet and one that is very special to me as I get to meet and swim with the new up and coming athletes. They are expecting a great turn out this year and I can’t wait. Should be a blast. So if you are in the area, drop by the pool.
Jimi Flowers
James (Jimi) Flowers was a lot of different things to many different people. He was a husband, a father, a coach and a mentor, but everyone thought of him as a friend first and foremost. In 1989 Jimi began serving as the USA Swimming’s National Team Coordinator. After a brief period as an Assistant Coach for Auburn University in the mid-90, Jimi returned to the USOC in 1999 as the Aquatics Center Manager. In 2007, he worked as the National Team Manager and Head Coach for the U.S. Paralympics Swimming Resident Program, directing that team to success at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. On July 10, 2009 Jimi was climbing Capitol Peak near Aspen when his foot slipped and he fell several hundred feet. Tragically, he passed away as a result of the fall.
So to honor Jimi for his service and commitment to the Paralympic movement, the USA Paralympic created the Jimi Flowers Classic, held annually at the US Olympic Training Center.
As I continue spending time in this sport I am always learning and not just from my coaches but from my fellow teammates as well as from the people that I meet through competitions and speeches that I deliver. However this meet continues to have a huge impact on me and I wanted to share with you a few of the key points that I walked away with:
- How important this meet is to so many and to show my support to the Flowers family and to celebrate Jimi’s legacy. Jimi was such a huge advocate for not only for people with disabilities, but for the entire Paralympic movement. This meet has grown so much from the first year it started to this past year. This meet is attracting great new talent from around the world.
- I had the great opportunity to meet a new up and coming S12 swimmer, same classification as I am, by the name of Andrew Mcleod. He swam a great meet, medalled multiple times and swam his best times during the entire meet. I love spending time and talking to new swimmers because it shows that the Paralympic movement is heading in the right direction and continues to grow. I also got to meet Andrew’s dad, Brady and his coach, Dustin. I was able to take them a VIP tour of the Olympic Training Center. Another highlight was that I was able to present Andrew with a new AmbuTech cane, one of my sponsors and partners.
I love walking away, feeling like I made a difference and showing young adults that they can achieve whatever they put their minds too and that if they continue to work hard, stay healthy even with a disability. I also walked away from this meet with some great “in season” swims and broke the American record in the 50 Breaststroke. I don’t normally compete in the breastroke, so this was a fun surprise. So all in all this meet was a great meet for countless reasons and I had a blast.
This past Friday I had the great honor and opportunity to be the keynote speaker at the Central District Association of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. It was a wonderful dinner and evening that celebrated people changing the physical health in children’s lives everyday. It was a honor to be able to share my story among a group of 350 people. I hope they were able to walk away with my message of, “Chasing the Dream Not the Competition,” and how important the Paralympic movement is for people with physical disabilities.
This award recognizes an outstanding male athlete for his athletic achievements for the past year.
Established in 1999, the Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame (ADN) has recognized nearly 100 individuals who share a passion for life and a dedication to inspire others through their words, actions and giving back to the greater community. Past recipients include World Champions, Paralympian, Special Olympian, and some of the most distinguished athletes and community leaders in their fields.
The Athletes with Disabilities Hall of Fame recognizes and honors men and women who have overcome physical challenges to become elite athletes and superior role models. Dupree joins the following athletes in the ADN’s Hall of Fame Class of 2011:
National Hall of Fame: Bobby McMullen and David Lee
Michigan Hall of Fame: Michael Henry
Tony Filippis Sr. Corporate Leadership Award: Detroit Lions
Rick Knas Lifetime Achievement Award: Shawn Kornoelje
Pat McDonald Female Athlete of the Year: Amy Palmiero-Winters
Roger McCarville Male Athlete of the Year: Tucker Dupree
Mark “Doc” Andrews Rising Star Award: Ronnie Dickson
ADN’s mission is to promote a better quality of life by creating opportunities for people with physical disabilities. To learn more, visit www.adnpage.org.
The week of October 12th, I was honored to represent the US in the 2011 Loterias Caixa Swimming Open held in beautiful BRAZIL! The team left on Saturday from Colorado and it was SNOWING!!!! When we landed in Houston we had a lovely 4 hour layover….never fun. After a long dinner and passing the time working on my Ipad, we got onto the redeye flight at 9 pm. We landed into Brazil the next day at 8 am. Trying to sleep on the plan is never an easy task so it was not the best sleep I have ever had that is for sure. We didn’t have to swim on Sunday so we just went to the hotel to relaxed and catch up on some much needed rest. Monday and Tuesday we got in the pool to test out the waters and just flop around before the meet started on Wednesday.
All in all I had a great meet for just being on a week or so rest. Swimming at sea level also feels amazing to be able to breath again. The meet also had a prize purse and was awarded based on points that you could score from how far you were off the world record or the fastest time swam this year. My 100 Meter Butterfly scored me 97.9 points, put me 7th best swim of the meet and won 1,000 euros, not pay for 4 days of work. I also swam in 3 other events and brought home 4 gold medals. I wish I had that kinda of meet every 2 weeks.
On September 30-October 2 I got to compete in the 2011 Santa Clara Swim Club Disability Meet held in Santa Clara, California. This was a fun meet that is very important for those entering the wonderful world of Paralympic swimming/developmental athletes to meet with national team. This gave us a chance to interact and for them to ask us a wide range of questions to help them prepare for their future. I swam pretty tired as I was preparing for another meet. I swam the 50 Meter Breaststroke, not one of my favorite events, and broke the Pan-American Record. Although this was not a sanctioned event, it had a time that needed to be broken and I was up for the challenge. I am very excited to leave for Brazil in a few days and can’t wait to let everyone know how I do.
Team USA wrapped up the Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships with 69 total medals to finish second overall in the medal count just behind Australia with a total of 76 medals.
I went to Edmonton and swam decent, although it wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be at this point of the year. Being a year out from the 2012 Olympic Games, I wanted to make sure I was faster than I was last year at the World Championships. I felt a little under rested and not as strong in the water as I had hoped for. This past year, I have been training extremely hard, pushing my body to the limit, harder than ever before, so I am sure that this was a factor as well. I know that I am getting stronger and I learn from each swim meet that I participate in. I continue to work with my coach on my training to strengthen and perfect my swimming technique for the 2012 Paralympic Games next year in London. All in all, I did go a best time in the 50 Meter Freestyle and re-instated my American and Pan-American Record and was about a half second off my personal best times on all of my other events. I will be traveling to Brazil in October and will keep everyone posted on my progress.
Last weekend I got to compete in the Montreal World Challenge. It was a huge honor to be invited and compete at this invitation only swim meet. There is a blind swimmer from Canada that gets to invite 7 other blind swimmers to race in 1 event for a cash prize. I was invited to swim and compete in the 100 Meter Butterfly. I swam a great time for this part of my season. I took first place in the event and took 4 seconds off my life’s time best. I also got to compete in 4 other events: 100 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Backstroke, 50 Meter Butterfly and the 50 Meter Freestyle as well. I set a new Pan-American Record, an American Record and a lifetime best in the 50 Meter Butterfly. The two highlights from this meet were winning the 100 Meter Butterfly and setting the 2 New Records in the 50 Meter Butterfly.
It was a great time and the Canadian hospitality was outstanding. Everything was taken care of from the moment I stepped off the plane to the moment I left including ground transportation, hotel and meals. It really felt good to feel like we had a purpose to be there and people wanted us to swim fast and not worry about everything else, thus allowing us to focus on swimming and doing our best. I think that this swim meet, the bringing together of both Paralympic and Olympic swimmers under one roof is a great model and one I hope that we can implement here in the USA.
Until next time….
Not many competitions bring together both Paralympic and Olympic swimmers at the same time and under the same roof. Swim Week is also an opportunity to attend the Para-Swimming World Challenge. This is the second time that is competition has been hosted by Montreal. This event brings together athletes from more than 10 countries.
Today, July 2, was a great day as Tucker sets a new American Record in the 50 Meter Butterfly. Tomorrow he will be competing in the 100 Meter Butterfly.
This weekend, I am flying out to Los Angeles for my girlfriends brother’s wedding. The house where the wedding is being held is beyond amazing. The wedding will be held in an orange orchard in Southern California. Today I got the privilege of setting up 288 chairs.
On Friday, we are going to Six Flags Amusement Park for the day. Then we‘ll be heading back home to get ready for the rehearsal dinner.
Saturday afternoon is the actual wedding and it will be full of dancing, great food and uniting of two families.
I go back to the Olympic Training Center on Sunday and get geared up to go to the Quebec Cup next week. This meet is going to be amazing just because it is a abled body and Paralympic mixed meet. Michael Phelps will be there along with other big named swimmers. This meet also has prize money built into the races so I hope to win the event that I was invited to swim. I leave Wednesday and return on Sunday. The meet will take place on Thursday thru Saturday. I will keep everyone up-to-date of how the meet is going and pictures as well.
Until next time….
Uncategorized | tucker | 
04/11/2012 10:33 pm | 
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