Timothy "Tim" McIsaac (born 10 January 1959) is a retired Canadian Paralympic swimmer, who was born blind. He was one of the first blind swimmers to do a

tumble turn A tumble turn or flip turn is one of the turns in swimming, used to reverse the direction in which the person is swimming. It is done when the swimmer reaches the end of the swimming pool but still has one or more lengths to swim. The technique's ...

in an international competition. He began swimming at the Ross MacDonald School for the Blind in

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Biography

McIsaac was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and has been blind since birth. When he was six years old, he would spend ten months of every year living in residence at the school and was far away from home. His father kept in contact with him whenever he attended business trips in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

or McIsaac would telephone his family every other week.

Swimming career

Swimming motivation

McIsaac started swimming when he was aged 13: his determination to start focussing on swimming was when he was involved in a car accident in September 1973 outside of his parents' house. He suffered from fractures in both of his legs and a compound fracture on his right arm.

Start of his swimming career

McIsaac first competed in a major competition in 1975 aged sixteen at the Ontario Games for the Physically Disabled held in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

. He had only been swimming for three years but he won five gold medals at his first Games.

Contributions

He has been awarded the Viscount Alexander Award for Junior Male Athlete of the Year in 1976 after his success at the

1976 Summer Paralympics The 1976 Summer Paralympics (french: Jeux paralympiques d'été de 1976), branded as Torontolympiad – 1976 Olympiad for the Physically Disabled, was the fifth Paralympic Games to be held. They were hosted by Toronto, Ontario, Canada, from 4 t ...

. He won another title in 1982 for being the Athlete of the Year in Manitoba and was honored in Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. McIssac was additional inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Committee Hall of Fame in 2013. As well as being the most decorated Canadian Paralympian and the first blind swimmer to the tumble turn, McIsaac is a legendary role model and his success, along with teammate

Michael Edgson Michael Edgson (born 6 May 1969) is a Canadian retired Paralympic swimmer. He is amongst the most successful Paralympians of all time having won 17 gold medals. He attended three Games between 1984 and 1992, winning medals in all but one of the ...

, they helped to build the paths of future star swimmers like

Donovan Tildesley Donovan Tildesley (born July 24, 1984) is a retired blind Canadian swimmer. He was the flag bearer of Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games. Swimming career He started swimming at the age of nine. Until 2000, he had swum in many provincial and ...

Valerie Grand'Maison Valerie may refer to: People *Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie *Valerie (given name), a feminine given name Songs *"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash'' *"Valerie", a 1982 son ...

and

Amber Thomas Amber Thomas (born November 17, 1993) is a Canadian swimmer. She lost her sight at ten years old due to a brain tumour and is classified in the S11 disability class. (search for "Amber Thomas") At the age of fifteen Thomas competed at the 200 ...

who are all blind swimmers.

References

External links

Tim McIsaac
at

Swimming Canada Swimming Canada is the Canadian national governing body for competitive swimming in the country. Swimming Canada oversees the management of all swim programs throughout the nation and provides the foundation for beginner-level athletes to train ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McIsaac, Timothy 1959 births Living people Swimmers from Winnipeg Paralympic swimmers for Canada Swimmers at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic gold medalists for Canada Paralympic silver medalists for Canada Paralympic bronze medalists for Canada