Jennifer French (sailor)

Jennifer French is an American SKUD 18 Para sailor.

Jennifer French

Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	1971 Royalton, Ohio
Medal record Representing  United States Sailing 2009 United States Disabled Sailing Championship Ideal 18 2010 Rolex Miami OCR Women's SKUD 18 sailing 2011 IFDS Worlds Women's SKUD 18 sailing 2012 Rolex Miami OCR Women's SKUD 18 sailing Paralympic Games 2012 London Women's SKUD 18 sailing

Biography

French was born in 1971 in Royalton, Ohio. Currently she is attending Bridgewater State University and is a member of St. Petersburg Yacht Club[1] She is married to Tim French and is friends with P. Hunter Peckham, who is a physician at the Functional Electrical Stimulation director and a sail boat racer as well.[2]

French was paralyzed after she damaged her spinal cord while snowboarding in 1998.[3]

She started participating in the Olympics in 2009 at the United States Disabled Sailing Championship, where she earned first place. She took fifth place at Rolex Miami OCR the same year, and first place the following year. Her awards went down from gold to bronze in two years. In 2011, she won a silver medal at IFDS Worlds and a year later went down to bronze at another annual Rolex Miami ISAF Sailing World Cup. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she won another silver medal for sailing.[1]

Outreach & Advocacy

Jennifer French is the author of the book "On My Feet Again" (published 2012) and a speaker at the 2018 TedX Berkeley conference (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkspAQW_2sQ). In the book she describes her experiences with new technologies intended for individuals with spinal cord injury. She uses the perspective of a participant in a clinical trial to tell the story of an implanted neuro-prosthetic system that enables her to stand up out of her wheelchair and move around on her own feet. She is an avid advocate for equal rights and equal treatment of individuals with disabilities and has presented at numerous technology and medical device conferences to highlight the equalizing effect that technology has in today's world.

References

1. "Jennifer French". Team USA. United States Olympic Committee. Retrieved July 10, 2013.
2. Loren Grush (December 4, 2012). "Neurostimulation allows paralyzed athlete to walk down aisle at wedding". Fox News. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
3. "Jennifer French, one of first to benefit from FES Center technology, to compete in Paralympics". Case Western Reserve University. August 29, 2012. Archived from the original on September 6, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2014.