Jacqueline "Jacqui" Kapinowski (born November 28, 1962) is a two-time American Paralympian who competed in

wheelchair curling Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of curling for athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling is governed by World Curling, and is one of the sports in the Winter Paralympic Games. Overview Wheelchair cu ...

at the

2010 Winter Paralympics The 2010 Winter Paralympics (), or the tenth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, from March 12 to 21, 2010. The opening ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing ...

and in

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

Personal life

Kapinowski was born in

Belleville, New Jersey Belleville (French: "Belle ville" meaning "beautiful town") is a township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 38,222. an increase of 2,296 (+6.4%) from the 2010 ...

, on November 28, 1962. Raised in

Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant is a Borough (New Jersey), borough situated on the Jersey Shore, in northern Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 18,941, an i ...

, she attended

Point Pleasant Borough High School Point Pleasant Borough High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school located on Laura Herbert Drive in Point Pleasant in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The school serves students in ninth through twelfth ...

. She had

bacterial meningitis Meningitis is acute or chronic inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, collectively called the meninges. The most common symptoms are fever, intense headache, vomiting and neck stiffness and occasionall ...

at ages 23 and 28 and started having seizures at age 35. At the age of 39 she was diagnosed with

stiff person syndrome Stiff-person syndrome (SPS), also known as stiff-man syndrome, is a rare neurological disorder of unclear cause characterized by progressive muscular rigidity and stiffness. The stiffness primarily affects the truncal muscles and is characterised ...

(SPS), a neurological disease that results in her needing to use a wheelchair as it makes walking painful and causes seizures and spasms. It has also resulted in broken ribs and vertebrae. In 2014 she was diagnosed with thyroid and throat cancer but reports being cancer-free in 2017. She is married with two sons and a grandson.

Curling

Although Kapinowski knew about curling due to her Scottish heritage, her introduction to curling was at the

Plainfield Curling Club The Plainfield Curling Club (or PCC) is a nonprofit curling club located in South Plainfield, New Jersey. It owns and operates the only dedicated curling facility in New Jersey. It was founded in 1963, with the members initially using rented ic ...

in 2007. "I found it very intriguing just trying to understand the sport. I loved it. I don't think people realize how difficult the sport really is," she has remarked. At the 2008 World Wheelchair Curling Championship held in

Sursee Sursee is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Sursee (Amt), Sursee in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Lucerne (canton), Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from wh ...

, Switzerland, she was part of the American team that won the bronze medal. At the 2009 Championships in Vancouver, Canada, she was a member of the US team that finished in fourth place. Kapinowski was selected as part of the United States team for the

held in Vancouver. She competed in the mixed gender event as the lead for the US team which also included Augusto Perez (skip), Patrick McDonald (third),

James Pierce James Hubert Pierce (August 8, 1900 – December 11, 1983) was an American actor and the fourth actor to portray Tarzan on film. He appeared in films from 1924 to 1951. Background Pierce was born in Freedom, Indiana. He was an All-American ...

(second) and alternate James Joseph. The team finished second in the round robin stage, winning seven of their nine matches to progress to the semifinal. Playing

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

the US team lost the match 5–7, meaning they advanced to the bronze medal match to face

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. The Swedish team won 7–5 and the US team finished outside of the medals in fourth position. In March 2011 she announced her retirement from wheelchair curling, citing the fact that she had moved permanently to Florida.

Rowing

After her move to Florida following the 2010 Paralympics, she contacted Navesink Rowing Club in order to try the sport. In 2011, she finished ninth in the trunk and arms mixed double sculls event at the

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

held in

Bled Bled (; ,''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 6: ''Kranjsko''. 1906. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 146. in older sources also ''Feldes'') is a town on Lake Bled in the Upper Carniolan regio ...

, Slovenia. At the

2015 World Rowing Championships The 2015 World Rowing Championships were World Rowing Championships that were held from 30 August to 6 September 2015 at the Lac d'Aiguebelette, Aiguebelette-le-Lac in France. Description The annual week-long rowing regatta was organized by ...

held at

Lac d'Aiguebelette The Lac d'Aiguebelette (; Lake of Aiguebelette) is a natural lake north of the Chartreuse Mountains in the French Alps and just west of the Chaîne de l'Épine in the Jura Mountains. It is located within five Communes of France, communes in the Sa ...

, Aiguebelette in France, she finished second in the B final, eighth overall, to secure the United States team a quota position for the women's single skulls at the

, to be held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil. At the US Olympic and Paralympic rowing team trials held in Sarasota, Florida in April 2016, Kapinowski won the women's arms and shoulders single sculls (ASW1x) event, confirming her qualification to compete in Rio. At the

in Rio she competed with two broken ribs, finishing the ASW1x event in seventh place.

Marathon

Kapinowski has been a runner and athlete her whole life, even before the onset of SPS. She has competed in 80 marathons, 19 of which as a runner. She has stated that she is the only woman to have competed in both the running and wheelchair categories in both the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by eight cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was ins ...

and

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon, currently branded as the TCS New York City Marathon for sponsorship reasons, is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 fini ...

Other sports

She won bronze medals at the 2007 and 2008 Marathon World Championships and also won a 2013 world championship bronze medal in

Paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI; formerly known as the International Triathlon Union or ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 S ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Official Website for the

in Vancouver
Jacqui Kapinowski Home Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapinowski, Jacqui Living people 1962 births Sportspeople from Belleville, New Jersey Sportspeople from Point Pleasant, New Jersey Point Pleasant Borough High School alumni American female curlers American wheelchair curlers Wheelchair curlers at the 2010 Winter Paralympics American female rowers Paralympic wheelchair curlers for the United States Rowers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics 21st-century American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen