Helena Lucas

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 29 April 1975) is a British Paralympic sailor.

Personal life

Lucas was born on 29 April 1975 in

Redhill, Surrey Redhill () is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead within the county of Surrey, England. The town, which adjoins the town of Reigate to the west, is due south of Croydon in Greater London, and is part of the London commuter belt. The ...

, England. She was born with a defect in both of her thumbs which makes her eligible to compete in Paralympic events. In 1996 she graduated with a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...

(BEng) degree in Yacht and Power Craft Design from

Southampton Solent University Solent University (formerly Southampton Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre and th ...

. In 2013 she was awarded an honorary doctorate in sport from Southampton Solent University today in recognition of her outstanding contribution to sport and an honorary doctorate degree from Bournemouth University.

Sailing

Lucas initially focused on competing in the

470 class The 470 (Four-Seventy) is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. Equipped with a spinnaker, trapeze and a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, it is designed to plane easily, and good teamwork is ...

in non-disabled competition, attempting to qualify to compete for Great Britain at both the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and the

2004 Athens Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. After 2004 she switched to sailing in the 2.4mR class, a Paralympic event contested in a single-person keelboat. In 2006, she stood in for

Shirley Robertson Shirley Ann Robertson, OBE DL (born 15 July 1968) is a British sailor and Olympic gold medallist. She made it into the history books by becoming the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal at consecutive games, Sydney 2 ...

as a member of the British crew in the

Yngling The Ynglings were a dynasty of kings, first in Sweden and later in Norway, primarily attested through the poem ''Ynglingatal''. The dynasty also appears as Scylfings (Old Norse ''Skilfingar'') in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' ...

event at a test event for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing, China; competing alongside Annie Lush and Lucy MacGregor, she won a silver medal. She represented Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, finishing in seventh position in the 2.4mR. Lucas was chosen to compete for

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements * Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size * Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent People * List of people known as "the Great" *Artel Great (born ...

, again in the 2.4 mR – 1 person keelboat event. She was the last member of the British sailing team to be selected after the announcement of the 2.4 mR representative was delayed because of the close competition between Lucas and Megan Pascoe. At the Games she was the only woman in the fleet of 16 sailors who contested the event. Heading into the final race she was in first place and held a nine-point lead over second-place sailor

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of Germany, which meant she was guaranteed at least a silver medal. Due to a lack of wind the races on the final day of competition were cancelled, meaning Lucas won the gold medal. She became the first British sailor ever to win a Paralympic gold medal. Lucas was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

for services to sailing. In April 2015, she became the first person named to represent Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she won a bronze medal in the 2.4 mR – 1 person keelboat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas, Helena 1979 births Living people Paralympic sailors for Great Britain British female sailors (sport) Sailors at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Sailors at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Alumni of Solent University Sportspeople from Redhill, Surrey Members of the Order of the British Empire 2.4 Metre class sailors Paralympic medalists in sailing