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| Born | 3 August 1983 Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | www | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Retinoblastoma | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | S11, PTVI | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Jessica Tuomela (born August 3, 1983) is a Canadian paralympic competitive swimmer and para triathlete who was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. She won silver in the 50-metre freestyle at the 2000 Summer Paralympics and bronze in the Women's PTVI Paratriathlon at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Tuomela was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, to a Portuguese mother and Finnish Canadian father. [1] She is blind as a result of retinoblastoma at the age of three. She learned to swim while at the Ross MacDonald School for the Blind [2] and began competitive swimming at age 12. [3] Tuomela was offered facial reconstructive surgery at age 16, but declined. [4]
Competing at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, Australia, Tuomela earned a silver medal in the 50-metre freestyle as well as three sixth-place finishes in the 100 freestyle, 100-meter backstroke and 200-meter medley.
Her accomplishments merited an invitation to the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, where she placed fourth in the 50-meter freestyle and had two sixth-place finishes in the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke. Tuomela also set five Canadian records in swimming. She won two gold medals in May, 2006 at the Belgian Paralympic Championships in the 50-meter breaststroke and 100-meter backstroke. She also took the silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke.
In 1998 Tuomela was one of 35 young people from North America and Russia to win the "Yes I Can" award, which recognizes the accomplishments of people with disabilities. She was honored in Sault Ste. Marie in 1992 for her academic achievements. On September 30, 2006, Tuomela became one of the first ten inductees in the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame. In 2009, she was indicted into the Sault Ste. Marie Sports Hall of Fame. [5]
Tuomela stopped competing in para swimming in 2008. After an eight-year break from sports, she returned to compete in para triathlon. [6] In June 2016, she competed in the ITU Nationals in Ottawa. [3] In July 2017, Tuomela began training with former national team athlete Ellen Pennock. [7] Guided by Pennock, Tuomela won a gold medal in the women’s visually impaired race at the Duathlon World Championships in Penticton in 2017. [7]
In 2018, Tuomela won the World Para Triathlon Series in Edmonton with guide Lauren Babineau, becoming the first fully blind athlete to win gold in an event on the World Para Triathlon Series circuit. [8] In 2019, she won bronze at the ITU Paratriathlon World Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland with guide Marianne Hogan. [9] Tuomela and Hogan won bronze in the 2019 World Para-triathlon Series in the women’s visually impaired category. [10]
At the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics, Tuomela placed fifth in the women’s visually-impaired triathlon, with Hogan. [11] [12] In June 2022, Tuomela and guide Emma Skaug were named to Canada's 2022 Commonwealth Games team. [13] The pair won bronze, marking Canada’s first-ever medal in the event. [11] [14] Tuomela and Skaug won bronze at the 2023 World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama, Japan. [15]
In 2008, Tuomela stopped swimming and attended massage college. After that, she completed a Performance Psychology diploma course at the University of Edinburgh. [16] She has a masters degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California.
Tuomela moved to Victoria, British Columbia in 2017. [4] Tuomela has been working with dogs, training in scent discrimination to find missing persons. In May 2023, she successfully tracked an individual with dementia who had gone for a walk and didn't return. [17]
Sandra "Sandy" Dukat is an American Paralympic athlete. Born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, she had her right leg amputated above the knee at the age of four. She has competed internationally in alpine skiing, swimming and triathlon. As of February 2013, she holds the marathon world record for above-knee amputee women.
Jessica Tatiana Long is a Russian-born American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at six Paralympic Games, winning 30 medals. She has won over 50 world championship medals.
Marayke Caroline Jonkers is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer and paratriathlete. She won two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, along with a bronze medal at the 2010 Budapest ITU Triathlon World Championships.
Melissa Stockwell is an American two-time Paralympic triathlete, swimmer and former U.S. Army officer. Competing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in three swimming events, she returned to race in the 2016 Paralympic Games and won a bronze medal in the inaugural triathlon event on September 11, 2016.
Miriam Sheppard is a New Zealand former para athlete and para swimmer. She was the 2009 ITU Paratriathlon World Champion in TRI3 classification. In addition, she represented New Zealand at the 2004 Summer Paralympic Games. in Athens, Greece, in swimming, as well as at the 2005 CPISRA World Games – in both swimming and track & field. Jenkins is affected by mild cerebral palsy in her left side.
Claire Cashmore, is a Paralympic Swimming Champion and PTS5 classified British paratriathlete. She has been to four Paralympic Games with swimming and has won 4 bronze, 3 silver, and 1 gold medal. Cashmore also broke the world record in the SM9 100m Individual Medley in 2009. She decided to switch to competing in paratriathlon after winning gold and silver at the Paralympic Games in 2016, and became ITU World Champion in the PTS5 classification in 2019. Claire Cashmore is based in Loughborough, England. She was born in Redditch, England, without a left forearm.
Macmilton "Mac" Marcoux is a Canadian Paralympic alpine skier who won three titles at the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup at the age of 15. With guide Robin Femy, he won three medals in alpine skiing at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, including gold in the men's visually impaired giant slalom. He also has numerous awards including being inducted into the Sault Ste. Marie Walk of Fame. He has an older brother and a younger sister. He also enjoys riding BMX and mountain bikes.
Lauren Steadman is a British Paralympic athlete who has competed in four Summer Paralympics, in both swimming and the paratriathlon. She competed at both the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London as a swimmer, before switching to the paratriathlon for the 2016 Games in Rio where she won a silver medal in the Women's PT4. She won the gold medal in the Women's PTS5 at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.
Kathleen Margaret "Katie" Kelly is an Australian paratriathlete, who has a degenerative disease known as Usher syndrome. Kelly began competing in the PT5 paratriathlon classification in February 2015 when her condition deteriorated to a legally blind state. She has just 30 per cent of her vision. With her guide Michellie Jones, Kelly won gold medals at the 2015 and 2017 ITU World Championships and 2016 Rio Paralympics. She competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Kate Næss is an Australian paraequestrian and paratriathlete. She won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Triathlon Grand Final. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics when paratriathlon made its debut at the Paralympics.
Leanne Taylor is a Canadian paratriathlete.
Allysa Seely is an American paratriathlete and gold medalist at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Lauren Parker is an Australian para-triathlete and para-cyclist. She won a silver medal (triathlon) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and two gold and silver (cycling) medals at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
Megan Fisher is a Canadian-American Paralympic athlete. She has won one gold, two silver, and one bronze medal for Team USA at the Paralympic Games.
George Peasgood is a British paratriathlete who competes in the PTS5 classification. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, where he finished seventh. Peasgood has won the GBR Paratriathlon National Championships four times- 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019. George Peasgood is based in Loughborough, England where he trains at the Loughborough Performance Centre. He was born in Saffron Walden, Essex.
Katie Crowhurst is a British visually impaired para athlete who has competed internationally for Great Britain in both para swimming and paratriathlon.
Olivia Chambers is a visually impaired American Paralympic swimmer, who competes in the S13 classification. She won a gold medal and two silver medals at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
Kamylle Frenette is a Canadian paratriathlete, competing in the PTS5 classification.
Wim De Paepe is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer and triathlete. He competes in classification PTS2.
Anja Renner is a German paratriathlete competing in the PTVI classification. She won the bronze medal in the triathlon at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.
