Jesse Grupper, E19, David Liebenberg, E14, and Alex Flynn, E26, will represent the U.S. at the 2024 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. Their time as Jumbos helped them realize this dream.

Grupper, who will compete in the sport of bouldering and lead climbing, was already a youth national champion when he came to Tufts. His experiences on the Tufts climbing team and as a mechanical engineering student sharpened his commitment to all of his pursuits.

“Tufts had one of the best teams at the time, and the infrastructure was really there to allow me to be able to continue pursuing this dream of climbing alongside going to a very rigorous school,” he said. “Finding that balance in a school really allowed me to progress in the sport.”

Grupper achieved his Olympic dream by winning gold at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, to qualify for Paris.

“Ultimately I just want to be able to arrive at the Olympics feeling like I’ve done all the work that I could have possibly done to do my best,” Grupper said. “Then I want to leave the event feeling like I’ve given it my all, put in a good fight, and that I’ve done something that I’m proud of.”

As a junior at Tufts in 2012, Liebenberg was part of the team that won the Intercollegiate Sailing Association Match Racing national championship. Learning from legendary Tufts coach Ken Legler, Liebenberg developed a better understanding of the technical aspects of racing, which he has put to great use during his Olympic qualifying campaign. He also fed off the passion for the sport shared by Legler, who passed away in May. 

“Sailing at Tufts was a unique experience that I was very lucky to have,” Liebenberg said. “Ken cultivated lifelong sailors. He really fostered a culture of enjoying the process which helps you then learn and become a better sailor.”

Enjoying the process has been an important part of Liebenberg’s Olympic journey, which started right after he graduated from Tufts in 2014. He persevered through two attempts in which he did not qualify for Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020. Continuing his efforts to realize this lifelong goal, he and teammate Sarah Newberry Moore earned a berth into the Paris Olympics in the Nacra 17 class by finishing as the top American team at a pair of regattas in Europe last spring.

“It didn't feel real at first,” he said. “It was such a long road to get here, years of work. You're doing the work for the journey. It’s not just for the result of getting to the Olympics. Obviously that is the ultimate goal, but it's more because you like and enjoy the process,” he said.

Similarly, Liebenberg and Moore are trying not to focus too much on what their Olympic result will be. In a 20-team field, he said they hope to advance to the medal race (top 10 teams) on the final day of the competition with an outside chance of making it to the podium.

Flynn made the U.S. Paralympic Rowing team and will compete as part of the PR3 mixed four with coxswain. The PR3 category is for people with a verifiable disability who can still use the functionality of their legs, trunk, and arms. Flynn has a left clubfoot, which prevents him from bending the foot upward and has resulted in muscle atrophy to the calf on his left leg.

Despite this challenge, Flynn began rowing as a high school student, and his passion for the sport grew quickly. When he aspired to continue rowing in college along with studying engineering, Tufts was an obvious choice.

“It's apparent the Tufts program has helped Alex grow both as a person as well as an oarsman,” said Tom Siddall, former Tufts men's rowing assistant coach, who now is the head coach of the PR3 4+ World Team. “He has a very consistent, level-headed, and aggressive approach.”

Flynn and his teammates were chosen for the Olympics after competing at a selection camp held in January in Sarasota, Florida.

“I am super excited to be able to represent the United States and Tufts at the Paris Paralympics this summer,” Flynn said. “The team is very strong, and we are striving to bring back gold.”

In addition, the director of Team USA’s Paralympic Rowing program is Ellen Minzner, who earned a master’s degree in urban planning from Tufts in 2010. Tom Siddall, who was an assistant rowing coach for the Jumbos from 2020 to 2023, will serve as one of Minzner’s coaches. Also, Shefali Christopher, associate professor and director of admissions for the Tufts Doctor of Physical Therapy Program, is serving as the medical liaison to the paratriathlon team in Paris.