Tucker Dupree wins gold medal in Brazil

Posted December 10, 2009 at 3:43 pm and filed under Headlines, Sports.

Tucker Dupree won five medals, including one gold, at the Paralympic short-course world championships held Dec. 2-5 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Dupree, the only North Carolina swimmer to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, won a gold medal, two silver medals and two bronze medals.

He set a world record during his gold-medal win in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 58.29 on the first day of competition.

He also finished second and won the silver medal in the 50-meter freestyle (24.00, American record); third and won the bronze medal in the 100 free (53.44 seconds, American record); and third and won the bronze in the 400-meter freestyle (4:20.27, American record).

“It was good to come back a world class athlete,” Dupree said upon his return to North Carolina. “To say I’m number one in the world and to have a world record is priceless, [it’s] definitely the biggest accomplishment for me so far, but it’s also made me hungry for the next medal.”

Dupree was named one of seven American men to represent the U.S. Paralympic Team at the Short-Course World Championships, which were held through Dec. 5. In summer 2008, Dupree represented the U.S. at the 2008 Paralympics Games in Beijing.

The Paralympics are Olympic-style games for 4,000 elite athletes representing 136 countries in 13 different disability groups. Dupree, who was diagnosed with Leber’s Hereditary Optic Neuropathy and has lost most of his central vision in both eyes, qualified to represent the U.S. at the Paralympics at the Paralympics swimming trials last April, where he won five gold medals.

Dupree is a 2007 honors graduate of Garner Magnet High School. For more information, visit tuckerdupree.com.

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