Carolina López (sailor)
Spanish adaptive sailor
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Carolina López Rodríguez is a Spanish adaptive sailor who has represented Spain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics where she came away with a Paralympic diploma.
Personal
López is a tetraplegic as a result of an accident and only has functionality from the chest up.[1] In March 2011, she was part of a delegation who went to the Zarzuela Palace and were received by Felipe de Marichalar y Borbón and Letizia, Princess of Asturias. It was part of a wider program aimed at integration of people with disabilities in Spanish society through sports.[2][3] In 2012, she was a 36-year graduate student in business.[1]
Sailing
Following her accident, López met people associated with Fundación También who encouraged her to try a number of sports including cycling, skiing and sailing. Fernando Alvarez Ortiz de Urbina was the one who encouraged her to take up the sport of sailing more seriously.[1] The pair were not confident they would qualify for London but decided to take part in qualifying tests anyway and were pleasantly surprised to qualify for the Games.[1]
López left for London from Madrid in late August.[4][5] She competed in the Mixed Two Person SKUD18 event at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, where she did not medal.[6][7][8][9] In two sessions, the pair finished in seventh place.[10] The pair earned a Paralympic diploma. It was the best performance ever by Spanish sailors.[11] In December 2012, they were recognised for their elite sportsmanship by the Union of Sports Federations Madrid.[11]
