Tess Routliffe of Caledon, Ontario won the gold medal on Tuesday in the women’s 100 metre breaststroke at the 2022 World Para Swimming Championships in Madeira, Portugal. She is Canada’s third gold medalist at the championship following Aurelie Rivard of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, who won the gold medal in the women’s 50 metre freestyle in the S10 classification, and Shelby Newkirk of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, who won the gold medal in the women’s 100 metre backstroke in the S6 classification. Rivard and Newkirk each won their gold medals on Sunday.
Routliffe suffers from hypochondroplasia, according to Apoorv Sirdeshpande of BVM Sports. The disability results in shortened limbs and a shortened stature.
In the women’s 100 metre breaststroke in the SB7 classification, Routliffe posted a winning time of 1:31.91. Nikita Howarth of New Zealand won the silver medal with a time of 133.45, and Naomi Somellera Mandujano of Mexico won the bronze medal with a time of 1:40.55. Routliffe reached the podium by 10.56 seconds over Vendula Duskova of the Czech Republic, who was in fourth place, with a time of 1:42.47.
In addition to the three gold medals so far, Canadian swimmers have won two silver medals and three bronze medals for eight medals overall. The silver medals came from Routliffe in the women’s 200 metre individual medley in the SM7 classification and Nicholas Bennett of Parksville, British Columbia, who won silver in the men’s 200 metre freestyle in the S14 classification on Sunday. The bronze medals came from James Leroux of Repentigny, Quebec (men’s 100 metre breaststroke in the SB9 classification) on Sunday, Alec Elliot of Kitchener, Ontario (men’s 400 metre freestyle in the S10 classification) on Tuesday, and Camille Berube of Gatineau, Quebec (women’s 200 metre individual medley in the SM7 classification) on Sunday. Bennett suffers from autism, Leroux suffers from muscle atrophy in his right leg from the knee down, Elliot suffers from Syndactyly (fingers and toes are fused together), and Berube has limited use of her legs because of cancer in her back at birth.
