| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Big D |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Born | July 24, 1984 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Height | 166 cm (5.45 ft) |
| Weight | 62 kg (137 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Swimming |
| Strokes | Medley Freestyle Butterfly |
| College team | University of British Columbia Dolphins |
Donovan Tildesley (born July 24, 1984) is a retired blind Canadian swimmer. He was the flag bearer of Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games. [1]
He started swimming at the age of nine. [2] Until 2000, he had swum in many provincial and national competitions, setting many Canadian records. [2]
He is the current world record holder for the 800-metre freestyle [3] and the 1500-metre freestyle. [3]
Tildesley graduated from the University of British Columbia in spring 2008 with an English degree [4] Donovan works full-time as an insurance broker for Buntain Insurance Agencies in Vancouver. [5] He also does public speaking and is a co-owner of a small radio station in Whistler, British Columbia. [4] In May 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in British Columbia, Tildesley advocated for blind British Columbians to be given vaccine priority similar to vulnerable groups with other medical conditions. [5] Donovan is also a proud member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and is currently contracted with Virgin Cruise Lines as an Accessibility Consultant.
Canada sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. 143 Canadian athletes competed in 17 sports. Canada also sent several officials to the games, including Tara Grieve in boccia and Andrew Smith in rowing. Canada finished seventh on the medal table at the Beijing games after finishing third on the medal table at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Swimmer Donovan Tildesley, a world record-holder and medalist at the 2000 and 2004 Paralympics, was the country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. The delegation is headed by Chef de Mission Debbie Low.
S10, SB9, SM10 are disability swimming classifications used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability. Swimmers in this class tend to have minimal weakness affecting their legs, missing feet, a missing leg below the knee or problems with their hips. This class includes a number of different disabilities including people with amputations and cerebral palsy. The classification is governed by the International Paralympic Committee, and competes at the Paralympic Games.
S8, SB8, SM8 are disability swimming classifications used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability. Swimmers in this class generally have severe weakness in one leg. This class includes a number of different disabilities including people with amputations and cerebral palsy. The classification is governed by the International Paralympic Committee, and competes at the Paralympic Games.
S13, SB13, SM13 are disability swimming classifications used for categorising swimmers based on their level of disability. Jane Buckley, writing for the Sporting Wheelies, describes the swimmers in this classification as having: "Swimmers who are the most sighted but are considered to be blind according to the IBSA B3."
S12, SB12, SM12 are disability swimming classifications used for categorising swimmers based on their level of disability.
Teigan Van Roosmalen is an Australian Paralympic S13 swimmer. She has Usher Syndrome type 1 legally blind and Profoundly deaf. She had a swimming scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport 2009-2012. Her events are the 100 m breaststroke, 200 m individual medley, 50 m and 100 m freestyle. She competed at the 2011 Para Pan Pacific Championships in Edmonton, where she won a gold medal in the S13 400 freestyle event. She competed at the 2008 Summer and 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Marion Beverly Lay, is a former competitive swimmer who represented Canada in the 1964 Summer Olympics and 1968 Summer Olympics. Swimming the anchor leg for Canada's third-place team in the women's 4x100-metre freestyle relay, she won an Olympic bronze medal, together with teammates Angela Coughlan, Marilyn Corson and Elaine Tanner.
Timothy Antalfy is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in swimming and won a bronze medal.
Jeremy McClure is an Australian swimmer, triathlete and motivational speaker. He competed at four Paralympics - 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London and 2016 Rio.
Summer Ashley Mortimer is a Canadian-Dutch former paraswimmer who competed internationally for Canada, and later the Netherlands national paralympic team, an artist, a performing artist, and CBC Sports personality.
Michael Prout is an American Paralympic swimmer.
Kirby Cote is a blind Canadian Paralympic swimmer.
Philippe Gagnon is a Canadian retired Paralympic swimmer and politician. Gagnon ran as a Conservative in the riding of Jonquière in the 2019 federal election.
Walter Wu is an S13 classified Canadian swimmer who has competed and set records at the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Paralympics. He won 14 Paralympic medals before retiring in 2004 after the Athens Paralympic Games. His accolades included selection as torch bearer, member of the Terry Fox Hall of Fame, and BC Disabled Athlete of the Year. He has spent time as a public speaker to local schools since retirement from active sports competition.
Brianna Nelson is a S7 classified Canadian para-swimmer who has competed in the 2008 and 2012 Paralympics. She was introduced to swimming by her cycling coach and had won two silver medals and one gold in the Paralympics and the IPC Swimming World Championships. She currently attends the University of Victoria.
Brian David Hill is a S13 Canadian para-swimmer who has competed in the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 Summer Paralympics and the 2007 Parapan American Games. He had won five gold medals, three silver medals and 3 bronze medals in his international career. Hill started swimming as a child and competitive swimming at the age of nine. He has won the British Columbia Blind Sports Award and Athlete of the Year Award.
Markus Thormeyer is a Canadian competitive swimmer who specializes in freestyle and backstroke. Originally from Delta, Thormeyer moved in 2015 to Vancouver, British Columbia after graduating high school to train with the High Performance Centre-Vancouver. While he swims he is also pursuing an undergraduate degree in environmental science at the University of British Columbia.
Tharon Drake is an American Paralympic swimmer.
Timothy "Tim" McIsaac is a retired Canadian Paralympic swimmer, who was born blind. He was one of the first blind swimmers to do a tumble turn in an international competition. He began swimming at the Ross MacDonald School for the Blind in Brantford, Ontario.
Moorea Longstaff is a Canadian S7 classified para-swimmer. She won two medals as a group in the women's 4 x 100 metres freestyle open competition and individually in the women's 400 metres freestyle S7 event at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1998. Longstaff went on to claim the bronze medal in the women's 400 metres freestyle S7 competition at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia.
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