| Tess Routliffe | |
| Birth Date: | 1998 9, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Height: | 1.34m (04.4feet) |
| Weight: | 54kg (119lb) |
| Classification: | S7, SB7, SM7 |
| Club: | Dorado Stars Swim Club |
| Show-Medals: | no |
Tess Routliffe is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer. 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.[1]
Routliffe is the youngest of three daughters[2] and was born in Auckland, New Zealand.[3] [4] She was born with hypochondroplasia.[5] Her family moved back to Canada when she was sixth months old, eventually settling in Caledon, Ontario.[6] Routliffe began swimming at age 3 with the Dorado Stars in Caledon.
Routliffe attended Mayfield Secondary School in Caledon.[7] She has a degree in communications and human relations from Concordia University.[8]
Routliffe began competitive swimming at age 14. She made six finals and won silver in the 100m backstroke at the 2014 Pan Pacific Para-Swimming Championships when she was 16.[9] [10] In 2014, she was awarded the Para Swimming Athlete of the Year Award at the Swim Ontario Annual General Meeting.[11] She won six medals at the 2015 Speedo Cam Am Para Swimming Championships in Toronto.
Routliffe made her international para-swimming debut at the 2015 Parapan Am Games in Toronto. 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.[12]
At the Rio 2016 Paralympics, Routliffe won silver in the SM7 200-m individual medley, establishing a new Canadian record.[13] She also made it to five individual finals at the Games.[14] She won bronze in the 200-metre individual medley at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, her first career medal at worlds.
Routliffe missed the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games after breaking her spine at the L1 vertebra while weight training. She made her return to competition at the 2022 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials, where she won the multi-class 100-m breaststroke.[15] At the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships she won gold in the 100-metre breaststroke SB7, silver in the 200 individual medley SM7,[16] 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[17] 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.[18] 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.
Her oldest sister, Erin, is a professional tennis player who represents New Zealand.[19] Her other sister, Tara, plays volleyball.