Tess Routliffe

Canadian Paralympic swimmer

Tess Routliffe
Personal information
Born (1998-09-27) 27 September 1998 (age 25)
Auckland, New Zealand
Height1.34 m (4 ft 5 in)
Weight54 kg (119 lb)
Sport
SportSwimming
ClassificationsS7, SB7, SM7
ClubDorado Stars Swim Club

Tess Routliffe is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer and winner of multiple world championship and Paralympic medals.[1] She represented Canada at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, where she won the silver medal in the women's 200 m individual medley SM7.[2]

Early life and education

Routliffe is the youngest of three daughters[3] and was born in Auckland, New Zealand while her parents Robert Routliffe and Catherine MacLennan, were on an around-the-world sailing adventure.[4][5] She was born with hypochondroplasia.[6] Her family moved back to Canada when she was sixth months old,[3] eventually settling in Caledon, Ontario.[7] She has two sisters, Tara and Erin, the latter a tennis Grand Slam event winner in women's doubles.[8] Routliffe began swimming at age 3 with the Dorado Stars in Caledon.[6]

Routliffe attended Mayfield Secondary School in Caledon.[9] She has a degree in communications and human relations from Concordia University.[10]

Career

Routliffe began competitive swimming at age 14.[4] She made six finals and won silver in the 100m backstroke at the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships when she was 16.[11][12] In 2014, she was awarded the Para Swimming Athlete of the Year Award at the Swim Ontario Annual General Meeting.[13] She won six medals at the 2015 Speedo Cam Am Para Swimming Championships in Toronto.[4]

Routliffe made her international para-swimming debut at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto.[6] She won gold medals in the 50-metre and100-metre freestyle, the 100-metre breaststroke, and the100-metre backstroke, and a silver medal in the 200-metre individual medley. At the 2015 International Paralympic Committee World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, she won silver in the 200-metre individual medley and finished fourth in four other races. Mike Thompson recruited her to the Swimming Canada’s Para-swimming Intensive Training Program in Quebec.[14]

At the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Routliffe won silver in the SM7 200-m individual medley, establishing a new Canadian record.[15] She also made it to five individual finals at the Games.[16] She won bronze in the 200-metre individual medley at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, her first career medal at worlds.[11]

Routliffe missed the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games after breaking her spine at the L1 vertebra while weight training.[7] She made her return to competition at the 2022 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, where she won the multi-class 100-m breaststroke.[17] At the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships she won gold in the 100-metre breaststroke SB7, silver in the 200 individual medley SM7,[18] and bronze in the 50 butterfly S7.

At the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, she won gold in the women’s SM7 200m medley[19] and the women's 100m breaststroke SB7, silver in the women's 50m butterfly S7, and a bronze in the women's 100-metre freestyle S7.[20] Routliffe is set to compete in the women’s 50m butterfly S7, 100m breaststroke SB7 and 200m individual medley SM7 at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.[5]

Personal life

Her oldest sister, Erin, is a professional tennis player who represents New Zealand.[21] Her other sister, Tara, played NCAA college volleyball.[5][1]

References

  1. ^ a b Dichter, Myles (27 August 2024). "Routliffe sisters pursue lifelong dreams at U.S. Open, Paralympics — at the same time". CBC Sports. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Results -- Women's 200 metre individual medley SM7 final" (PDF). Rio 2016 Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Tess Routliffe explores the world through Para swimming". Canadian Paralympic Committee. 9 September 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Strader, Matthew (7 August 2015). "Tess Routliffe's time to shine at Parapan Am Games". Toronto.com. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ a b c "Paris 2024: Braunschweig and Routliffe, the Paralympic and Olympic siblings". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Harrison, Doug (14 June 2022). "Tess Routliffe lowers Canadian mark to win Para swimming world gold after back injury". CBC. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  7. ^ a b Morris, Jim (23 June 2023). "Overcoming back injury put world championship medals in perspective for Routliffe". Swimming Canada. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Canadian tennis headed in the right direction". TheRecord.com. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  9. ^ Sirdeshpande, Apoorv (29 September 2021). "Caledon resident Tess Routliffe is overcoming adversity one swim at a time". BVM Sports. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  10. ^ "Tess Routliffe". Canadian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Canada's Tess Routliffe snags bronze at para swimming worlds". CBC. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  12. ^ "Dorado's Routcliffe is medalist in Pan Pacific Games". Caledon Citizen. 15 September 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  13. ^ "Dorado Stars swimmers take top awards". Caledon Enterprise. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  14. ^ Ahmad, Safia (21 November 2016). "How Swimming Shaped Paralympic Athlete Tess Routliffe's Life". The Link. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  15. ^ El-Shaboury, Yara (13 March 2021). "An ounce of self-assurance has created a pound of confidence in Routliffe". The Toronto Observer. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  16. ^ Boisse, Meagan (19 September 2016). "New Concordian Tess Routliffe makes waves in Rio". Concordia University. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Tess Routliffe makes successful return to competition". Canadian Paralympic Committee. 6 April 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  18. ^ "Resilient Routliffe earns world title in Portugal pool". The Globe and Mail. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Gold medal win at Para Swimming World Championships for Tess Routliffe of Caledon | inBrampton". INsauga | Ontario Local News Network. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Canada's Routliffe claims 4th medal of 2023 Para swimming worlds with 100m freestyle bronze". CBC. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  21. ^ Strader, Matthew (10 July 2018). "Caledon tennis star Erin Routliffe in main draw at Wimbledon". Caledon Enterprise. Retrieved 21 July 2019.