Tucker Dupree

Friday, August 27 – New Home… For 2 years

tucker — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:40:10 +0000

On my return to the United States, from the Netherlands, I actually didn’t go back to my home town of Raleigh, North Carolina, but ended up returning to the United States Olympic Training Center (OTC) located in Colorado Springs, CO where I am a resident for the next 2 years. I am loving it so far.

The Olympic Complex is a state-of-the-art sports medicine and sport science center, with an athlete center, which includes a dining hall, recreational facilities and two residence halls able to serve up to 557 coaches and athletes at one time.

I will spend much of my time training at the aquatic center which is a 45,000 square feet complex which contains a 50-meter x 25-meter swimming pool, two meters deep at the ends and three meters deep in the center. The pool has two moveable bulkheads, 10 50-meter lanes and 20 25-meter lanes and contains 810,000 gallons of water.

My room is very nice and the beds are super comfortable. As you can see I have already started to decorate my room. I have my own bathroom and share a common living area with a roommate, who is also a Paralympic swimmer. The cafeteria is amazing as well and the staff will make you what ever your appetite is for the day. The people here are overly nice and very helpful.

I am truly humbled and honored to be able to train at this state-of-the-art facility and to be grouped with the some of best elite athletes in America.

Until next time…….

Sunday, August 22 – Rap it UP

tucker — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 22:00:24 +0000

What a trip! On the last day of competition, the entire team went to the Open Water Competition to cheer on the last 6 swimmers in this event. One of the US competitors got a Bronze Medal. This last medal made Team USA walk away from this meet with 57 medals in total (men: 1 – gold, 6 – silver, 10 – bronze; women: 19 – gold, 12 – sliver, 9 – bronze) finishing up in second place overall in the medal count just behind Ukraine with a total of 58 medals. This meet was an amazing experience for me as an evolving swimmer as I walked away with 4 Bronze and 1 Silver and four new American Records. To look back and see just how far I have come from since Beijing 2008 to being off the podium in every event to finishing on the podium, it feels AMAZING! I am glad that my training and hard work is paying off and that I am improving and come 2012, I will be ready to be in the number one spot for all of my events!

Today we started the long flight home beginning at 11am and just landed in Colorado. I am on my way to my new home for the next couple of years at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. I am about to check in and get my room assignment then head to the infamous cafeteria for a bite to eat. Then I am going to spend tonight unpacking and getting settled in my new room. I am so glad to be back in the States.

Thanks for all your continued support and following my progress.

Stay tuned…..

Friday, August 20 – Add Silver and Bronze Medals Plus Two New American Records

Ken — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 23:44:30 +0000

Tucker capped an already successful week with two more medals and two new American records. Tucker won silver in the 100m freestyle in a time of 54.43 and took bronze in the 100m backstroke in 1:02.09. Dupree finishes the meet with a total of one silver and four bronze medals and four American Records.

Silver Medal – 100 Meter Freestyle (54.43) – New American Record
Bronze Medal – 100 Meter Butterfly (59.55) – New American Record
Bronze Medal – 100 Meter Backstroke (1:02.09) – New American Record
Bronze Medal – 50 Meter Freestyle (25.01)
Bronze Medal – 400 Meter Freestyle (4:23.44)
5th Place – 200 Meter Individual Medley (2:18.67) – New American Record

Friday, August 20 – Last Day of Competition

Ken — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:04:11 +0000

Tucker moves on to the finals later on today in the 100 Meter Backstroke with a qualifying time of 1:04.52 seeded 3rd and then 100 Meter Freestyle with a qualifying time of 56.10 seeded 2nd.

Thursday, August 19 – Tucker Brings Home Bronze in the 400 Meter Freestyle

Ken — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:25:25 +0000

This is the 5th day of competition and Tucker is having a great meet adding a third Bronze Medal in the 400 Meter Freestyle with a time of 4:23.44. Tucker has a long day tomorrow as he will be swimming four times on Friday. First up is the 100 Meter Backstroke Heat 1 of 2 where Tucker is seeded over all in second with a qualifying time of 1.02.10. Next is the 100 Meters Freestyle Heat 1 of 2 where Tucker is again seeded over all in third with a qualifying time of 54.61. Finals will follow later in the day. Both of these races are going to be extermely close and down to the wire as Tucker competition is also swimming in both events. Names to watch for are Maksym Veraksa (UKR) and Alexandr Nevolin-svetov (RUS).

So to recap thus far Tucker set two new American Records and has three Bronze Medals.

Wednesday, August 18 – Tucker Takes Bronze Medal in the 50 Meter Freestyle

Ken — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 23:05:31 +0000

50M Freestyle, Eindhoven, Netherlands

What a day. Another close race. Tucker was awarded a Bronze Medal for placing third in the 50 Meter Freestyle with a time of 25.01. Taking first place was Maksym Veraksa (UKR) with a time of 23.47 and second place was Alexandr Nevolin-Svetov (RUS) with a time of 24.82.

Next up for Tucker is the 400 Meter Freestyle. Tucker is currently ranked 2nd in the World with a time of 4:23.38. He will be competing against Sergey Punko (RUS) who is the current World Record holder with a time of 4:08.64.

Medal Count
42 – Ukraine (23 Men and 19 Women)
37 – Great Britain (16 Men and 21 Women)
36 – USA (8 Men and 28 Women)
27 – Russia (19 Men and 8 Women)

Wednesday, August 18 – Next Race – 50 Meter Freestyle

Ken — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 02:59:01 +0000

On Wedneday, Tucker will swim in the morning to qualify for finals. He is currently seeded 3rd out of 17 swimmers with a personal best time of 24.89. The current World Record is held by Maksym Veraksa (UKR) with a time of 22.99 and he is competing in this race.

Tuesday, August 17 – Tucker Takes Bronze Medal and Sets New American Record in the 100 Meter Butterfly

Ken — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:17:49 +0000

100M Butterfly in Eindhoven, Netherlands

Today, Tucker took a Bronze Medal in the 100 Meter Butterfly and sets a new American Record with a time of 59.55. His best time in this event was 1:00.22. This was a very tight race. Taking 1st place was Roman Makarov (RUS) with a time of 58.51 and in 2nd place was Sergey Punko (RUS) with a time of 58.63 and 4th place was Anton Stabrovskyy (UKR) with a time of 59.88.

Monday, August 16 – Day Off

tucker — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:49:21 +0000

Today I don’t compete so I get to rest and just hangout and cheer for the USA Team! This morning I got in the pool and loosened up. This morning, the USA had some good races for day 2 of competition. I am heading back to hotel to grab a bit to eat then take a short nap to stay and keep my body in the routine. Then back to the pool to support the team for the finals with hopes to bring home some more medals for Team USA!

Tuesday, August 17 – Next Race – 100 Meter Butterfly

Ken — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 23:58:18 +0000

Tucker gets Monday off to rest up for the next event scheduled for Tuesday, August 17.

Tucker is ranked 3rd in the World in this event with a qualifying time of 1:00.22. He will be swimming in lane 6. The current World Record is held by Raman Makarau of Belarus with a time of 56.90. However, Raman is not competing in this event this year. The number one seed for this event is Roman Makarov from Russia with a time of 58.83. There are only 8 qualifiers in this event so no qualifying heats will be held. This event is scheduled to be held around 7:45-8:00pm their time in Eindhoven, Netherlands (see note below).

For those that want to view the live event on paralympicsporttv, click here. Then click on the “Live” in the lower left corner; then you should see a box to the right of the video screen; then click on the “Click here for LIVE Stream.” Please note that Raleigh, NC is 6 hours behind Amsterdam. So if you want to watch the qualifying heats, they begin at 3am and if you want to watch the finals, they begin at 11am Raleigh time.