Olympic Profile- John Ruf (USA) - 2.4mR skipper

by US Sailing on 12 Sep 2008 Olympic Profile: John Ruf (USA) - 2.4mR skipper

On a February afternoon, when 201 days until the Paralympic Games, 2.4mR skipper John Ruf was at home in Wisconsin, planning his last stretch of training before he reaches the starting line in Qindgao. He could see Lake Pewaukee from his window. It's frozen solid and covered with snow, 'but if I close my eyes, in my mind I can picture it as soft water…' says Ruf, who would clearly rather be on the water—especially this patch of water, where he grew up and learned to sail from his mother and grandfather.

These days, however, Ruf hasn't time to daydream. 'I just completed a brutal self-analysis, about what I need to focus on before China, and when I got done, I wondered, How did I win the Trials?' he jokes. What came from that critique was a laundry list of tasks to address before the Paralympics—from sharpening his tactics, to being a better student of the rules, to working on his equipment.

'Some days you wake up totally overwhelmed: How will I get all this stuff done?' he says. 'And other days, after training hard on the water for eight days, you think, OK, it's time to do something besides sailing.' Like every elite athlete on an path to China, Ruf is entrenched in the game of pacing himself in these final months, so he is hungry and ready when it's his turn to sail for a gold medal.

As a youth, Ruf sailed X-boats, then moved to M-Scows and E-Scows. He spent much of his childhood shuttling between doctors and hospitals after a tumor was discovered on his spine, but he still sailed. After a car accident, a wheelchair became his mode of transport. He discovered the 2.4mR while flipping through a sailing magazine during his recuperation.

The 2000 U.S. Paralyampic Team Trials were his baptism into the 2.4mR, a singlehanded class that also attracts able-bodied sailors. Ruf had never singlehanded before and was used to conferring with crew on tactics, having extra hands for trimming sails. 'I started talking to myself on the boat, which I found a little frightening,' he says. 'But they tell me not to worry—until I start answering myself.'

Ruf had to adjust to singlehanding, but he never had to adjust to going head-to-head against able-bodied sailors. That is how he grew up—and he estimates that 90% of his training is in mixed fleets of disabled and able-bodied sailors.

Ruf finds the life of a world-class racer to have challenges and great rewards. The one thing that frustrates him, however, is the label of disabled sailor tagged to the sport he plays. 'It's the same sailing I did in my E-Scow,' he says. For Ruf, the water is a great equalizer—but he wished the rest of the world saw it that way: 'I have this crazy fantasy, that what I do could just be called sailing.'

Significant sailing achievements:

Sailor of the Year/Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (2007)

Sailing Resume:

2008
8th US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR/Miami, Florida
2007
1st U.S. Paralympic Team Trials – Sailing/Newport, Rhode Island
3rd C. Thomas Clagett Jr. Memorial Regatta/Newport, Rhode Island
4th 2.4mR Midwinter Championships/St. Petersburg, Florida
9th US SAILING's Rolex Miami OCR
10th IFDS Disabled Sailing World Championship/Rochester, New York
2006
2nd 2.4mR North American Championships/Chicago, Illinois
6th US SAILING Pre-Trials/Newport, Rhode Island

Just the Facts

Class: 2.4mR
Position: Skipper
US Disabled Sailing Team Alphagrahics: 2001-2004, 2006-2008
Member Of: Pewaukee Yacht Club/Milwaukee Community Sailing Center
High School: Brookfield Academy College/Graduate School: Washington University (graduated 1990) University of Wisconsin Madison Law School (graduated 1993)
Age: 40
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois
Hometown: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Occupation: Attorney/Legal & Compliance
Sailing Since Age: 9
Website: http://web.mac.com/WHITEBUFFALO/Team_USA-88/Welcome.html

http://olympics.ussailing.org