Alexandra Rickham (born 11 September 1981) is a British Paralympic sailor.

Personal life

Rickham was born on 11 September 1981 in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, Jamaica. She is a

tetraplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of motor and/or sensory function in the cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weakness or paralysis leading to partial or ...

athlete who became disabled as a result of a shallow diving accident in 1995.

Sailing

Rickham competed in the 2008 Paralympic Sailing Competition in the

SKUD 18 The SKUD 18 is a class of racing sailing boat. It is a lead-assisted skiff with a tube-launched asymmetrical and a modern high performance stayed rig. The boat was created for trials held by the International Association for Disabled Sailing w ...

two person keelboat class, where she finished in fifth place. In 2011 following back to back IFDS World Championship wins she was shortlisted by the

International Sailing Federation International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

for the

ISAF World Sailor of the Year Awards The World Sailor of the Year Awards were launched in 1994 by World Sailing (formerly the International Sailing Federation) to reward individual sailors for outstanding achievements in the sport. The awards have been sponsored by Rolex Rolex ( ...

. Rickham was selected to represent

Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012 as the host nation. A total of 288 athletes were selected to compete along with 13 other team members such as sighted guides. The c ...

held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom. She competed in the SKUD 18 - 2 person keelboat event, alongside teammate Niki Birrell. The duo started strongly, winning two of the first five races, but form slipped slightly in the later races but their performance was still good enough to win the bronze medal.

References

External links

* * 1981 births Living people British female sailors (sport) Paralympic sailors for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in sailing Sailors at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Team Bath Paralympic athletes Sportspeople from Kingston, Jamaica {{UK-sport-bio-stub