In the almost four years since he lost most of his vision, paralympic swimmer Tucker Dupree has set two world butterfly records, won two gold and four silver medals at the 2007 Parapan American Games, won six gold medals at the 2007 U.S. Open Swimming Championships and competed in six events at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.
The 21-year-old Garner High graduate has another travel date set after being invited to participate in the U.S. Olympic Committee's Residency Program this fall in Colorado Springs, Colo., with 15 other athletes. Dupree, who was diagnosed four years ago with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, a disease that affects vision, was named to the U.S. team that will compete in the 2010 International Paralympic Committee Swimming World Championship in Eindhoven, Netherlands, next month.
"This sport is my life and everything, and I don't think I can put words to it," said Dupree, who won a gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Short Course World Championships in Rio de Janeiro in December. "A lot of it is fun, but it's a love-hate relationship in that training is hard, but the end result is that I get to travel the world."
Dupree was invited to the USOC's residency program following his performance at the Can-Am National Championships in San Antonio this spring, when he came away with six gold medals.
"I think it's every athlete's dream to train at the Olympic Training Center," he said "It's a wonderful facility, and I'm one of the 16 athletes out there, and I want to get my swimming to the next level."
U.S. coach Dave Denniston said training at the facility will improve his swimming immensely.
"I swam with him in Beijing in 2008, and it was a lot of fun making friends like Tucker. He's already one of the best paralympic swimmers in the world, and he has a chance to be even better."
Dupree has lost 80 percent of his vision, but he said that encourages him to work harder and led him to become a motivational speaker.
"It kind of evolved into itself, because I did a lot of interviews, and a lot of people were telling me I had a great story and that I should share it," Dupree said. "That's what people are trying to hear, that even though I'm faced with all these obstacles, I can still overcome them and use a lot of my abilities instead of focusing on my disabilities.'"
Last month, Dupree was invited to speak at the Olympic Day Activity at the Boys & Girls Club in Wake Forest, where 239 kids and 12 adults heard his story of how he overcame his vision impairment.
"Was it inspirational? Absolutely," said Jason Weathers, the club's Youth Development Professional. "He talked about being able to overcome losing his sight and encouraged the kids to reach their goals and not let things get in the way. He's a normal guy and an incredible athlete who understands what it takes to work hard and not be afraid of putting himself out there."
