Tucker 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 at the Short Course World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dec. 2-5.

Dupree won the Gold in the 100-meter butterfly with a World record time of 58.29 on the first day of competition. He also finished second and the Silver Medal in the 50-meter freestyle (24.00, American record), third and the Bronze in the 100 free (53.44 seconds, American record), and third and 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 No. 1 in the world and to have a world record is priceless, 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 will be held through Dec. 5. He earned a spot on that time after setting five American records in his disability class en route to this selection at the CanAm Championships this past summer in Edmonton, Alberta.

In Summer 2008, Dupree represented the United States at the 2008 Paralympics Games in Beijing. He spent the 2008-09 school year as a varsity swimmer at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C., near Shelby.

At age 17, Dupree, while a standout high school swimming, began to lose his vision and was diagnosed with a rare disease called Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy. In a short period of time, he lost 60-80 percent of his central vision in both eyes. Since that time, he has become a stronger swimmer and has also set a new life ambition: personal inspirational speaking.

The Paralympics are Olympic style games for 4,000 elite athletes representing 136 countries in 13 different disability groups, emphasizing their athletic achievements rather than their disabilities. Dupree qualified to represent the United States at the 2008 Paralympics in Minneapolis last April at the Paralympics swimming trials where he won five Gold Medals.

In 2008, he won six Gold medals at the U.S. American Open Swimming Championships, and two Gold and four Silver medals at the Pan-American Games in Vancouver in 2007.

Dupree is a 2007 honors graduate of Garner Magnet High School in Garner, N.C.