Swimming to London

Qualifying for the Paralympics

By many measures, Kristin Duquette ’13, is a typical Trinity College student. She takes a full course load, is fiercely competitive, lives on campus, and eats at Mather Hall, majors in human rights, has a legislative internship, and hopes to be a lawyer.

What sets her apart from her contemporaries? Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, condition that causes weakness and loss of skeletal muscle around the eyes, mouth, shoulders, upper arms and lower legs.

And Duquette is a world-class swimmer with her sights on the Paralympics in London this summer. She will attempt to make the U.S. team in the 50- and 100-meter freestyle at the qualifying trials in North Dakota this June. “I have to be in the top seven in the world to go [to London],” she said. “I feel like I have a really, really good shot.”

She has already participated in swim competitions, triathlons, and Half Ironman competitions and has many awards, trophies, and medals to her credit. Last year, she traveled to the University of Minnesota and Gatineau, Canada, for national Paralympic swim meets, and went to San Diego and completed a Half Ironman competition, which included an ocean swim of 1.2 miles.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association named Duquette the recipient of its 2010 Robert Ross Personal Achievement Award for Connecticut. She was selected “for her outstanding work on behalf of others with disabilities and her determination to excel in the face of personal challenges.”

No matter what happens, she says, “I’m still going to live my life and not let anything stop me from doing what I want to do.” For more information, please visit: www.kristinduquette.com or http://kristinduquette.blogspot.com/.