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 techniqu ...

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

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

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Biography

McIsaac was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba 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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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

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. 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 (), 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 3 to 11 August 1976, marking the first time a ...

. He won another title in 1982 for being the Athlete of the Year in Manitoba and was honored in

Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame The Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is a Canadian museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, dedicated to honoring the history and achievements of sports in Manitoba. The organization began in 1980, and then opened a museum in The Forks in 1993. Afte ...

in 2000. McIssac was additional inducted into the

Canadian Paralympic Committee The Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC; French: ''Comité paralympique canadien''), also known as Team Canada, is the private, non-profit organization representing Canadian Paralympic athletes in the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and ...

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, they helped to build the paths of future star swimmers like Donovan Tildesley, Valerie Grand'Maison and Amber Thomas who are all blind swimmers.

References

External links

Tim McIsaac
at

Swimming Canada Swimming Canada is the national governing body for competitive swimming in Canada. It was established in 1909, as the Canadian Amateur Swimming Association. Swimming Canada oversees the management of all swim programs throughout the nation and ...

* {{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