Tucker Dupree selected for U.S. short-course world Paralympic swim team

Posted August 10, 2009 at 5:37 pm and filed under Headlines, Sports.

Staff reports

Garner swimmer Tucker Dupree is one of seven American men chosen to represent the U.S. Paralympic team at the short-course world championships in Brazil in early December 2009.

Tucker Dupree. FILE PHOTO

Tucker Dupree. FILE PHOTO

At the CanAm Championships earlier this month in Edmonton, Alberta, Dupree set five American records in his disability category.

Kit Raulerson, head coach at Raleigh Swimming Association in Cary, where Dupree trains, said that the selection committee chose athletes who had world rankings high enough to earn a spot on the medal stand.

“Tucker is currently ranked in the top five in the world in many of his events, and hopes to reach the medal stand in Brazil,” he said.

Last summer, Dupree represented the United States at the 2008 Paralympics Games in Beijing, earning several world rankings.

He spent the 2008-09 school year as a varsity swimmer at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., near Shelby.

At 17, Dupree was diagnosed with a rare disease, Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy. He lost 60-80 percent of his central vision in both eyes in a short period of time. Since then, he has become a stronger swimmer and has also set a new life ambition: personal inspirational speaking.

A 2007 honors graduate of Garner Magnet High School, Dupree has received numerous awards for his accomplishments, including the Garner Magnet High School Swimming MVP and the Tim Stevens Scholarship Award.

For more information, or to inquire about Dupree as an inspirational speaker, visit tuckerdupree.com or call 919-210-4068, or contact Bert Woodard at bert@nextlevelcom.net or 336-978-0021.

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