Like many sailing stories, John and Stacie’s racing partnership started on a dock. Both athletes had been involved in sport their whole lives and a chance meeting in Victoria’s Inner Harbour brought together one of Canada’s most successful sailing teams: John McRoberts and Stacie Louttit.

Stacie learned to sail on Lake Superior in her youth; however, her first love was downhill skiing. In 1994 she broke her back in a skiing accident at Whistler Blackcomb and was left a walking paraplegic. Looking for a new sport and challenge, she met John and was encouraged to take up sailboat racing through the BC Disabled Sailing Association in Victoria.

John grew up in a sporting family, so when he became quadriplegic at age 18 after diving into shallow water in Lake Erie, he was always searching for new possibilities. He’d learned to sail as a youth and competed as a road racer and in wheelchair rugby before finding sailing again in the 1990s. He was immediately entranced; this was a sport in which he could be fully competitive, once away from the dock, just like any other sailor. “There’s true freedom on the water,” says John.

John progressed quickly in the sport and was already an experienced sailor when he met Stacie, having won silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games when paralympic sailing made its debut as a demonstration sport.

In 2006, John asked Stacie if she would team up with him to compete for the opportunity to qualify for a place on Canada’s Paralympic Sailing team ahead of the 2008 Summer Games, racing the new Skud18, a two-person high performance keelboat. Stacie’s job was to trim the sails - main, jib and spinnaker - with John as skipper at the helm. With the support of her young family, Stacie took a leave of absence from her work to train and travel. This dedication paid off when the team was awarded national team carding in 2007 and qualified for Beijing in 2008.

With the Games in sight, Stacie and John’s Paralympic campaign – christened “TeamUCan 2” – began to ramp up. Working with coach Stephen McBride from the Royal Victoria Yacht Club, they sailed to a 3rd place finish at the 2008 Miami Olympic Classes Regatta and placed 4th at the 2008 Qingdao International Regatta Test Event. They were fully dedicated to achieving success in Qingdao during the Games, and after five days of testing conditions and tight competition, their training and teamwork paid off as they brought home the Bronze medal! John and Stacie went on to qualify for London 2012, where they won Silver in the Skud18 test event and placed 4th at the Paralympics.

Standing on the podium at Beijing 2008, Stacie made history as the first Canadian female sailor to medal at an Olympic/Paralympic Games. John made a well-deserved addition to his medal collection and TeamUCan2 had achieved their goal of representing Canada with talent and pride.

SPONSORED BY PACIFIC INSTITUTE FOR SPORT EXCELLENCE