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Wilbraham native ready to go for the gold

Maureen McKinnon-Tucker
By Courtney Llewellyn



Reminder Assistant Editor







WILBRAHAM Next month, the fastest, strongest and most agile athletes in the world will converge in Beijing, China, to compete for national pride and Olympic gold. Viewers the globe over will watch to see who can be considered the best.



Some of the world's greatest athletes will also be meeting in Beijing, China, in early September to compete in the worldwide Paralympics, the international athletic competition for disabled persons. Maureen McKinnon-Tucker, formerly of Wilbraham, will be competing against 14 other countries as a member of the U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team.



"People with disabilities need something to empower them," McKinnon-Tucker said. "They need something for a feeling of confidence."



McKinnon-Tucker became paralyzed in 1995 after a 13-foot fall. While she can walk with the use of arm crutches, she is a wheelchair user. She only really became interested in sailing after her accident, however.



"She was introduced to sailing when she was 18 by her now-husband Dan," McKinnon-Tucker's mother, Rosemary McKinnon, said. The two met when they were students at Northeastern University.



"Growing up in landlocked Wilbraham, it was not convenient to practice sailing," McKinnon-Tucker stated. When she was younger, she used to throw javelin and shotput and play softball, but she said she "never really locked on to one particular sport."



"I started sailing and racing casually," she explained. "It was not until after I broke my back did I notice not a lot of boats are handicap-friendly. I did kayaking and tried a number of disabled sports ... It was not until I met skipper Rick Doerr of my last Olympic campaign, with his Sonar boat, could I be an equal contributing member of the crew."



A Sonar sailing boat holds a crew of three, and McKinnon-Tucker was part of a crew with Doerr in 2002, when they vied for a spot in the Athens Games in 2004. Her team received a bronze medal there.



"That was a disappointing loss," McKinnon-Tucker said. "But once you get bit by the Olympic bug, you just can't quit."



And she hasn't. After the 2004 games, she switched a SKUD-18 boat, which she describes as sportier than the Sonar. Her two-person crew includes teammate Nick Scandone, who suffers from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's Disease). McKinnon-Tucker said Scandone has earned both national and international wins but due to the progression of his disease, he's losing his abilities to talk and walk.



"I'm confident he'll have the ability to compete," McKinnon-Tucker said. "He's been sailing since he was eight."



Scandone handles the tiller system while McKinnon-Tucker serves as the trimmer. She controls 13 different lines on the boat and adjusts the sail shape as the boat moves along the water.



McKinnon-Tucker has made the U.S. Disabled Team six times and was the first woman to be named to the sail team. She's also the first American woman to go the Paralympics in sailing.



"Everybody has a goal of getting the gold," McKinnon-Tucker said, "but I look forward to hearing our National Anthem in the background and I want to be the first woman to medal in the sport."



Is she nervous about the upcoming competition? "I'm not at all nervous about the sailing. I'm worried about the green algae bloom in the water," McKinnon-Tucker said. She added that when sailing, algae can stop a boat dead in the water.



"She has an awful lot of determination. She has this goal in mind and she wants to get it," Rosemary noted. "Her determination has always been there. She just puts herself into gear and goes."



"We're very, very proud that she's challenged herself and been so successful in [sailing]," her father, Bruce McKinnon, said. "She has it in her to get the gold. We're extraordinarily proud of her. I'm in awe of her."



There is one challenge that McKinnon-Tucker asks for help with, though: fundraising. Flying back and forth to China, shipping her boat over to China and lodging during her three week stay costs an estimated $75,000. She also runs an adaptive sailing program in Boston Harbor and has a goal of starting a Paralympic sailing program with two SKUD-18 boats. To donate to these causes, visit her Web site at www.sailchallengeinspire.org.



McKinnon-Tucker will be leaving for the Paralympics on Aug. 27 and the mother of two gave many thanks to her parents for watching her children all these years.



Don't let your Olympic spirit dwindle with the closing of the regular games in Beijing rekindle the flame with the Paralympics.



To learn more about the Paralympic Games, visit en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn.