Marblehead Paralympic Champion in the Running for 2016 Games

Maureen McKinnon-Tucker made history in 2008 when she became not only the first woman to represent the United States in a paralympic sailing competition, but also the only woman to win a gold medal in the race.

Since then, McKinnon-Tucker hasn’t done much competitive racing, according to the Salem News. But the 49-year-old mother of two from Marblehead is making a comeback in the world of competitive racing and vying for a spot on the 2016 U.S. paralympic sailing team.

McKinnon was paralyzed in 1992 after tripping off of a seawall and falling 13 feet to sand and rock below, Sail Magazine said. She thought her sailing days were over when the boats she usually sailed, J/24s, were too difficult for her to sail with a disability and the go-to boat for sailors with disabilities, the Freedom 20, didn’t challenge her.

She put aside her racing dream for nearly 10 years, until she ran into Dr. Rick Doerr at a regatta in 2001 who introduced McKinnon to the Sonar – a boat that was the just-right in between to get McKinnon back into racing.

It was a Sonar McKinnon and her partner Nick Scandone won the gold medal on in 2008. The pair raced so well in that competition that they had already won before the races were finished.

After her paralympic win, McKinnon said she had been “laying low” and mostly sailing for fun. But she just got a letter from the U.S. Sailing Team confirming her spot on the U.S. Paralympic Sailing Team.

This time she has a new partner, 22-year-old Ryan Porteous of San Diego. Porteous and McKinnon hope to represent the United States in the upcoming 2016 Paralympic Games.

And McKinnon will need the support of her community to do it.

”The Marblehead community really got behind me for my last bid in 2008,” McKinnon said to the Salem News. “I hope to get that same kind of support again.”

Read more at the Salem News.

Image via U.S. Sailing Team