A record-breaking detour

BY SARAH NAGEM, Staff Writer
CARY - Tucker Dupree didn't plan on this. He figured he'd be a typical college student at this point in his life. But there was something else in store for him.

Now Dupree, 20, who lost most of his vision three years ago, holds 25 American swimming records and is heading to Brazil this week to compete as part of the U.S. Paralympic swim team in the world championships.

Dupree's journey to this point has been rocky -- and inspiring.

In 2006, during his senior year of high school, Dupree was diagnosed with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, a rare disease that affects vision. He has lost about 85 percent of his eyesight in both eyes and depends on his peripheral vision to get around.

"It was like I woke up one morning and couldn't see out of my left eye," said Dupree, who trains at the Triangle Acquatic Center in Cary.

The diagnosis thwarted his post-high school plans. He had wanted to swim for a college team.

But Dupree's sight deteriorated so quickly that he had to turn in his driver's license during his senior year. Looking back, Dupree said, that was one of the hardest things about his ordeal.

"When you're in high school, that's giving up your independence," he said.

But since then, Dupree's life has taken a turn he never imagined. He didn't even start swimming seriously until high school.

Dupree has played the piano since he was 12 and was part of the drumline for the Garner High School marching band.

He didn't consider swimming until his older sister joined the school team. He had to wait for her at practice after school. Finally, he reluctantly gave it a try.

"I said, 'This is ridiculous,'" Dupree recalled. "Now I do it for a living."

Dupree said he wasn't a good swimmer at first. But he stuck with it and became one of the fastest swimmers on the school team. He joined the Raleigh Swimming Association.

After he lost his sight, a mentor turned him on to the Paralympics, Dupree said. The summer after he graduated high school, he juggled his classes at Wake Technical Community College and traveled to Vancouver for a meet, where he broke American records. Last year, he competed against hundreds of swimmers to earn a coveted spot in the 2008 Paralympics in China, held a week after the regular summer Olympics.

Dupree raised enough money to take his parents, his grandmother, his uncle and his sister and her friend to Beijing. He stayed in the area Michael Phelps and the rest of the U.S. team had been.

"It's cool to think that I started swimming at 15, and at 19 I was halfway around the world," Dupree said.

He finished fourth, fifth and sixth places in his events.

Last spring, Dupree enrolled in Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, where he swam on the NCAA Division I team. But he decided to turn professional.

Now, Dupree swims up to four hours a day at the Triangle Aquatics Center and spends several hours a week lifting weights.

His coaches with the Raleigh Swimming Association have emphasized strength training to prepare him for Brazil, said coach Dan Ohm.

"We're trying to get him a little stronger, more powerful, to deal with these guys," he said.

Dupree is looking toward the 2012 Paralympic games in London.

Beyond that, he's not sure.

"I don't know if I'll go till 2016," Dupree said. "We'll see."

He wants to write a book about his experiences. And he wants to travel the country as a motivational speaker. He's already speaking to local groups.

In the meantime, his mother, Marlene Dupree, will continue to drive him to and from practice. She said she hopes her son's story will inspire others.

"All he does is eat, sleep and swim," his mother said.

Dupree said swimming has helped him get through the last few years. A solitary sport, being in the water gives him time to reflect.

"You stick your head in the water, and you don't talk to anybody," Dupree said.