Greetings from Qingdao, China:
Welcome Nick Home!
New Arrival Information
Thursday, Sept. 18th
Arrives at Orange County
United, Flight 311
2:00 pm
Scandone Makes History!
Former UC Irvine All-American Nick Scandone won a gold medal in
the SKUD-18 class at the Paralympics Saturday.
Scandone and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker clinched the gold medal
Friday with two races left in the series. With the gold medal
secured, the duo decided to sail one race on the final day to show
their support for the rest of the fleet.
The first time Paralympians became the first U.S. Paralympic
Sailing Team to win a gold medal, while Mc Kinnon-Tucker entered
the history books as the first female gold medalist in the history
of the Paralympic Sailing Regatta.
Scandone Clinches Gold!
Former UC Irvine All-American Nick Scandone has clinched a gold
medal in the SKUD-18 class at the Paralympics with two races
remaining.
Friday, Scandone and crew Maureen McKinnon-Tucker won two more
races to improve their nine-point lead ahead of their
competitors.
Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker plan to race tomorrow, even though
they have already secured the gold medals.
"It's almost hard to believe," said Scandone, incredulously. "I
won't feel like it's real until the gold medal is placed around my
neck."
"I feel exhausted, very satisfied and somewhat overwhelmed all
at the same time," he said. "It's been such a long road to get
here," he said. "It's emotionally overwhelming for me to finally
realize my goal."
Nick Scandone credits a team of people who have assisted him in
reaching his Paralympic goals. "This gold medal is not only for me
and Maureen," he said. "It's for all the other people who have
helped me along the way, from my yacht club to family and friends
who have supported me throughout my venture."
SKUD-18: 11 boats
1. Nick Scandone (Newport Beach, Calif., USA) and
Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass., USA), 2, 1, 1, 1, (3),
2, 1, 1; 9
2. John Scott McRoberts and Stacie Louttit, CANADA, (3), 3, 3,
3, 1, 3, 2, (8); 18
3. Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox, AUSTRALIA, (4), 2, 2, 2,
2, 4, (9), 3; 19
Quotes courtesy of U.S. Sailing
Paralympic Sailing Regatta Day 2: Team USA Continues
Winning Streak
It was another successful day for Team USA today, with two teams
each winning two out of their three races. Nick Scandone (Newport
Beach, Calif.) and Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass.) are
enjoying the view from the top in the 11-boat SKUD-18 class, after
grabbing two bullets and a third place finish today.
Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker padded their lead in the SKUD-18
class with two more wins today. They dropped their "worst" score
today, an enviable third place finish. Despite a slow start in
their first race today, they managed to pick off boats one by one,
and claimed the lead by a substantial distance. After a brilliant
start in their second race, Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker strongly
suspected they started early. Fearing the worst, they circled back
and restarted. Despite this initial setback, they relied on their
boat speed and a little luck to capture the lead. On the first leg,
the fleet leaders mistakenly mistook a mark from another course,
and other boats followed suit. Scandone and McKinnon-Tucker
diverted from the pack and headed for the correct mark for the
SKUD-18 course, capturing the lead.
The duo first started racing together a year ago, when Scandone
switched from the 2.4 mR to the double-handed SKUD-18. Ever since,
they have been an unstoppable force in this competitive fleet,
winning the 2007 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials and US SAILING's 2008
Rolex Miami OCR by wide margins. McKinnon-Tucker credits their
teamwork with their success: "Nick and I just really gel, and we
work well together as a team," she said. "I feel very privileged to
sail with him."
"There isn't a lot of chatter on the boat," she said. "We manage
to know what each other is feeling without words. It's different
than any other team I have sailed with. Everything just
clicks."
SKUD-18: 11 boats
1. Nick Scandone (Newport Beach, Calif., USA) and
Maureen McKinnon-Tucker (Marblehead, Mass., USA), 2, 1, 1, 1, (3);
5
2. Daniel Fitzgibbon and Rachael Cox, AUSTRALIA, (4), 2, 2, 2,
2; 8
3. John Scott McRoberts and Stacie Louttit, CANADA, (3), 3, 3,
3, 1; 10
September 8, 2008
Day One Results:
It was a long day on the water that started off with a
postponement of racing that lasted over two hours. Racing didn't
begin until after 3pm and by the time we got the boat back to the
dock it was after 6pm.
Nick's results we're solid after day 1. He finished with a 1st
and 2nd and are currently in the lead. We will send more race
details as time permits.
Thank you all for your kind words and support.
Race Day 1: Monday September 8, 8:30am
View PhotoShow images.
Not a lot to report over the past five days. Our routine has
been fairly consistent (the plan has been to get Nick into a
routine prior to the start of racing and do our best to continue
this throughout the regatta, so far so good), wake up sometime
between 8 and 9, venture down to the cafeteria for some breakfast,
back up to the room to read the latest weather posting. Then we
pack the day pack with lunch and plenty of fluids, relax, check a
few emails and then head down to the sailing venue to check out the
adjustments Mike has made to the boat (Mike has been on the boat by
9am each morning, making any adjustments that Nick wanted from the
previous days training).
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When we get to the dock, it's 11:30ish and all three US Teams
(and coaches) are on the dock discussing the winds, tides,
competition and sharing what they learned the previous day. The US
Team is a tight group and all are looking to help each other the
best they can. We then shove Nick and Maureen off the dock for a
1-3 hour sail. As you would all expect, this is not your run of the
mill hand me a rum and coke sail, it's about fine tuning the boat
to make sure come race day we have the fastest boat in the
fleet.
Yesterday was the first and only official practice race where
all of the teams in each fleet raced against each other on the
Olympic course. Nick had a good start and was 3rd around the first
mark behind Canada and China, as he approached the reach mark he
was 2nd and decided to jibe around the mark. They continued to race
for about 30 minutes before dropping out prior to the finish (this
is customary as finishing a practice race is considered bad luck).
Nick and Maureen looked tight and the boat seemed ready to go.
Last night was the torch lighting and the Opening Ceremonies
here in Qingdao, they put on quite an event. Nick was chosen as the
flag bearer for the US Team and I was asked by Sarah Hawkins (US
Team Leader) if I would like to join Nick on stage, of course I
jumped on that opportunity like a tick on a hound dog. The scope of
representing the US Sailing Team and the United States didn't quite
hit Nick and I until we were on stage looking at all of the
athletes in the stands, it was a real feeling of national pride and
quite an honor. We thin mingled with all of the athletes and
coaches before we headed back to the cafeteria for a late night
dinner.
So now what? Race day is here and the friendly smiles and head
nods are done. It's time to get down the what we're here
for.....Sailing! We will do our best to send daily race updates
from this point forward.
Our best from Qingdao.
Day 3: Tuesday September 2nd
Apologies for the delay however it's been a bit of a whirlwind
over the past 72 hours. We arrived at the Sailing village in
Qingdao Saturday evening around 9'ish, via police escort from the
airport. We weren't sure if the escort was for our safety or was it
a sign on how serious the Chinese people are taking these Olympic
Games, whatever the reason, it was appreciated. The weather over
the first 36 hours was grey, cloudy and very rainy ....think
Seattle in March just a lot warmer. The temp was comfortable during
the rainy days, about 75 degrees with 80 degree humidity, not bad.
The weather switched from somewhat comfortable to hot today, 90
degrees with 90 degree humidity. We've been told that the cooler
days are behind us. The rainy day gave the sailors an excuse to
chill out and check out the hotel's amenities. The athlete's room
was fitted complete with ping pong, air hockey, pool tables,
wireless internet, plenty of computers, coffee and tea bar,
couches, flat screens and lots of talk about sailing. While Nick
and I were checking out the rest of the hotel, Mike Pinckney was
down at the boat doing some glass and epoxy work to a damaged keel
on Nick's boat that must of happened during shipping. Mike has been
an artist with his attention to detail and focus on making sure
that Nick and Maureen have the fastest boat in the fleet and making
sure that all of the finest of details of the boat have been
checked and double checked.
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On day 2 the Team all gathered in the coaches/medical room for a
briefing and to lay out the upcoming weeks schedule. At the end of
the meeting the athletes were asked to vote for a team captain,
this was done by secretly writing the name of your choice on paper
and then the tally was counted (only athletes were able to
vote)....Nick was chosen as Captain of the US Team. He told the
group he was humbled and honored to represent the US Para Olympic
Sailing Team to the best of his ability. As Nick's brother, it was
an emotional moment.
Today (Tuesday the 2nd) was the first day on the water for Nick
and Maureen, Mike asked if I would join him on the coach boat to
observe the sailing. They looked great, Maureen was on her game and
Nick was feeling comfortable with the changes made to the steering.
Wind was 8-10 knots and both Nick and Maureen looked real smooth
throughout the practice session. Both Nick and Maureen had some
fine tuning adjustments for Mike and he'll handle those on
Wednesday the 3rd.
We were able to fly the spinnaker today that all of you signed
at Nick's send off party. We have attached a few pictures of the
day's events.
Lastly, today the Olympic torch passed thru Qingdao. They
ceremony lasted about an hour and ended with the torch being lit on
stage and the passed though the city streets.
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