Helena Lucas MBE (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 status in the United Kingdom, 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 London Borough of Croydon, Croydon in ...

, 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 undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

(BEng) degree in Yacht and Power Craft Design from

Southampton Solent University Southampton Solent University (formerly and commonly known as 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 ...

. 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 i ...

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, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

and the 2004 Athens Games. 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 is the first British woman to win Olympic gold medals at consecutive Olympic Games, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. Early life Robertson ...

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 (, ) in ''Beowulf''. When ''Beowulf'' and ''Ynglingatal'' were composed sometime ...

event at a test event for the

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

in Beijing, China; competing alongside

Annie Lush Annie Lush (born 11 April 1980) is an English sailor. She was born in Poole, Dorset. , Lush is tall and weighs . Lush attended Cambridge University, where she was awarded Blues in rowing, sailing and rugby. Lush was a candidate for selection ...

and

Lucy MacGregor Lucy MacGregor (born 28 November 1986) is an English sailor. She was born in Poole, Dorset. , MacGregor is tall and weighs . She attended Bournemouth School for Girls and is a member of Poole Yacht Club. She started sailing at the age of six ...

, she won a silver medal. She represented

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Great Britain sent a delegation of around 400, of which 212 were athletes, to compete in eighteen sports at the Games. The team was made up of athletes ...

in Beijing, finishing in seventh position in the 2.4mR. Lucas was chosen to compete for

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 ...

, 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 Megan is a Welsh feminine given name, originally a diminutive form of Margaret. Margaret is from the Greek μαργαρίτης (''margarítēs''), Latin ''margarīta'', "pearl". Megan is one of the most popular Welsh-language names for women in ...

. 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 Heiko Kroger 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

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 Southampton Solent University Sportspeople from Redhill, Surrey Members of the Order of the British Empire 2.4 Metre class sailors Paralympic medalists in sailing