Liesl Dorothy Tesch AM (born 17 May 1969) is an Australian

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

player, sailor, and politician. She is a Labor Party member of the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

, representing

Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...

since the 2017 Gosford state by-election. Tesch became an incomplete

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

after a

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

accident at the age of 19. She competed in her national wheelchair basketball team at five paralympics, winning three medals, and was the first woman to play the sport professionally. She took up sailing in 2010, winning gold medals at the

2012 London The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

and

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

with partner

Daniel Fitzgibbon Daniel Fitzgibbon, (born 15 June 1976) is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He won gold medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 2012 London and 2016 Summer Paralympics, 2016 Rio P ...

Early life

Tesch was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

on 17 May 1969. In a 2012 interview, she described her parents as "alternative" and said of her father that he would have rather philosophised than worked "because he didn't like working for a capitalist society. ... We lived off the land as much as we could, eating roadkill." She grew up in Brisbane, New Zealand, and the Lake Macquarie suburb of Coal Point, and attended Toronto High School. She participated in basketball, swimming, sailing,

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

, and cycling as a child, and was part of the state basketball team in years 11 and 12 at high school. At the age of 19, she broke her back after a mountain-bike accident, becoming an incomplete paraplegic. She received a Bachelor of Science and a

Diploma of Education The Diploma of Education, often abbreviated to DipEd or GradDipEd, is a postgraduate qualification offered in many Commonwealth countries including Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Overview The diploma can build on th ...

from the University of Newcastle.

Competitive career

Wheelchair basketball

43 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Basketball Liesl Tesch

Tesch started playing wheelchair basketball after one of her

physiotherapists Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...

noticed how skilled she was at shooting with a foam basketball and

perspex Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) is a synthetic polymer derived from methyl methacrylate. It is a transparent thermoplastic, used as an engineering plastic. PMMA is also known as acrylic, acrylic glass, as well as by the trade names and bran ...

backboard during her rehabilitation. Shortly after entering the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

state team, she was invited to try out for and made the

Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team The Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team is the women's wheelchair basketball side that represents Australia in international competitions. The team is known as the Gliders. The team hasn't won a gold medal for Australia since i ...

in 1990, making her national debut at that year's World Championships and her Paralympic debut at the 1992 Barcelona Games. She was named to the All Star Five at the 1994 Gold Cup, where the Australian team won a bronze medal. She was part of the Australian team at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics, and was named

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...

at the 1998 Gold Cup. She was the vice-captain of her country's team at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, where she won a silver medal. During celebrations after the games, some players from Europe invited her to play in professional men's teams there. She accepted this suggestion, and played in Madrid,

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, and Paris for the next five years, thus becoming the first woman in the world to play wheelchair basketball professionally. She helped establish a women's wheelchair basketball league on the continent and competed in women's teams in Italy and France. She also competed in the silver medal-winning Australian team at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. She returned home to captain the national squad at the

2008 Beijing Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. In 2010, Tesch competed with her team in the

Osaka Cup is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third-most populous city in Japan, following the special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population o ...

, a competition for the top five women's international wheelchair basketball teams in the world; her team defeated the number one ranked American team 55–37. She was a

4-point player 4-point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. Players in this class have normal trunk function but have a reduced level of functioning in one or both of their lower limbs. They may have difficulty with sideways mov ...

. She retired from the national wheelchair basketball squad in 2011 to concentrate on sailing. She admires

Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer, eight-time olympic medallist, a 15-year world record holder in the 100-metre freestyle, and former politician. Controversial, yet the winner of countless honours, ...

, describing her as "a fellow bad girl not afraid to speak her mind". At the Beijing Paralympics, she smuggled a turtle that she had bought at a market into the Paralympic village, and named it "Tibet" after being ordered to remove it. She was famous for dyeing her hair

green and gold The national colours of Australia are green and gold. They were formally adopted by the governor-general of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen, on 19 April 1984 in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette; on the advice from Prime Minister Bob Hawke. ...

during her Paralympic wheelchair basketball career.

Sailing

Tesch participated in the 2009 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race on ''Sailors with Disabilities''. After seeing an SBS documentary about the journey, Beijing silver medallist

contacted her in late 2010 and they formed a sailing partnership. Sailing the two-person SKUD 18 with Fitzgibbon, the team had immediate success, winning gold at the

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

Gold Cup in January 2011 and a bronze medal at the IFDS World Championships in July of that year. They won a gold medal with a race to spare at the London 2012 Paralympic sailing competition held at Weymouth and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

. Tesch's mother had died of cancer after her first day of racing at the games; shortly after winning the gold medal, she said it was "a beautiful way to celebrate my mum's life to win gold on a beautiful sunny day at the Paralympic Games". At the 2014 IFDS World Championships in Halifax, Canada, Tesch teamed with Fitzgibbon to win the two-person SKUD 18 class. Tesch and Fitzgibbon won the 2015 IFDS World Championships in Melbourne. Tesch and Fitzgibbon won the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 class at the 2016 World Championships held in

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Med ...

, Netherlands. On 20 June 2016, Tesch was robbed of her bicycle at gunpoint while on a fitness ride with her physiotherapist in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, in preparation for that year's Paralympics. She was uninjured but shaken after the attack. Tesch and Fitzgibbon won back to back Paralympic gold medals by winning the SKUD18 at the

. They won eight out of 11 races and came second in the other three.

Political career

In February 2017, Tesch was selected by the Labor Party to contest the Gosford state by-election. The

electorate of

had been held by the Labor Party's Kathy Smith, who had resigned due to ill health. Tesch won the election, held on 8 April 2017. Following the election of the Minns government at the

2023 New South Wales state election The 2023 New South Wales state election was held on 25 March 2023 to elect the 58th Parliament of New South Wales, including all 93 seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Legislative Assembly and 21 of the 42 seats in the New South ...

, Tesch was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Inclusion, Families and Communities.

Personal life

Before entering politics, Tesch worked as a high school teacher. In 2010, she co-founded Sports Matters, a charity that promotes sport for people with disabilities in developing countries. She lives with her partner, Mark, a boatbuilder and frequent competitor in the

Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...

; the couple met while preparing for the competition in 2009.

Recognition

In 2000, Tesch received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, off ...

. She and Fitzgibbon were jointly named as Sailors of the Year with a Disability in 2011. She was appointed a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2014

Australia Day Honours The Australian honours and awards system refers to all orders, decorations, and medals, as instituted by letters patent from the Monarch of Australia and countersigned by the Australian prime minister at the time, that have been progressively ...

"for significant service to sport as a gold medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, and through the promotion and facilitation of sport for people with disabilities." In November 2014, Tesch shared the

Yachting Australia Australian Sailing is recognised by World Sailing as the governing body for the sport of sailing in Australia. It formed in 1950 as the Australian Yachting Federation at a meeting at the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club. It is responsible for the ad ...

Sailor of the Year with a Disability award with

, Colin Harrison,

Jonathan Harris Jonathan Daniel Harris ( Charasuchin; November 6, 1914 – November 3, 2002) was an American character actor whose career included more than 500 television and film appearances, as well as Voice-over, voiceovers. Two of his best-known roles we ...

Russell Boaden Russell Boaden (born 15 December 1969) is a Paralympic sailor from Australia. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and a won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Personal Boaden was born ...

and

Matthew Bugg Matthew Bugg (born 25 February 1981) is an Australian sailor. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 2.4mR class sailing event. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 IFDS World Cha ...

. The Australian team of six sailors beat Great Britain by one point at the IFDS World Championship. Tesch and Fitzgibbon won the 2014 NSW Sports Award for Team of the Year with a Disability. In November 2014, Tesch was awarded The Primary Club of Australia's Sir Roden Cutler Award acknowledging an outstanding sporting achievement by an athlete with a disability. In November 2015, Tesch and Fitzgibbon were awarded

's 2015 Sailor of the Year with a Disability. In 2016, Tesch was inducted into

Basketball Australia Basketball Australia (BA), officially registered as BA Limited, is the governing body for basketball in Australia. Established in 1939, BA is a not-for-profit organisation responsible for overseeing basketball at all levels in Australia. B ...

's Hall of Fame. In 2016, she was awarded the President's Award at the Australian Sailing Awards. At the 2016

Australian Paralympic Committee awards Paralympics Australia recognises the achievements of Paralympic athletes, coaches and administrators through several awards. These awards generally relate to performances at the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and are not necessarily awarded annu ...

, she was awarded the Uncle

Kevin Coombs Kevin Richard Coombs (30 May 1941 – 5 October 2023) was an Australian wheelchair basketballer and athlete who competed at 5 Paralympics including the first Paralympic Games in 1960. He was the first Australian Aboriginal Paralympic competit ...

Medal for the Spirit of The Games. In November 2017, Tesch and

were inaugural inductees to the

Australian Sailing Hall of Fame Australian Sailing Hall of Fame was established in 2017 by Australian Sailing in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum. There are two nomination categories: the sailor or athlete category; and the general category which recogni ...

. In 2022, she was inducted into the

New South Wales Hall of Champions The New South Wales Hall of Champions is a museum at Australia Avenue, Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. The property is owned by State Sports Centre Trust (State Government). The museum's collection was added to the New South Wa ...

. In 2024, she was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Don Bradman, Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and ...

References

External links

* * * *
Conversation with Richard Fydler, ABC Local Conversations, 19 May 2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tesch, Liesl Australian female sailors (sport) Paralympic sailors for Australia Paralympic wheelchair basketball players for Australia Wheelchair basketball players at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair basketball players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Sailors at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic silver medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in wheelchair basketball People with paraplegia Sportswomen from Queensland Sportspeople from Brisbane Sportswomen from New South Wales University of Newcastle (Australia) alumni Members of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of New South Wales Women members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly Australian sportsperson-politicians 1969 births Living people 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Disabled sailing world champions World champions in sailing for Australia Australian politicians with disabilities Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century Australian sportswomen 21st-century Australian sportswomen