Summer Mortimer

Summer Ashley Mortimer (born April 22, 1993) is a Canadian-Dutch former paraswimmer who competed internationally for Canada, and later the Netherlands national paralympic team, an artist, a performing artist, and CBC Sports personality.

Mortimer won seven world-championship finals for Canada and the Netherlands, and four medals for Canada at her first Paralympic Games in London: two gold, one silver and one bronze.

Mortimer competed in the 2008 Canadian Olympic Trials as an able-bodied swimmer, and retrained as a paraswimmer after a trampolining accident. She began competing at the international level in 2010 with an SM10 classification, setting world records in the process (one of which she broke again in qualifying for the 2012 Paralympics). Competing in six events, Mortimer won medals in all four individual races. She holds world records in the S10 50- and 100-metre long-course freestyle and the 50- 100- and 200-metre backstroke. In 2013 Mortimer applied to join the Netherlands national team, and announced her transfer in June 2014. Winning three medals (two gold and one silver) at the 2014 IPC championships, she set two European records. She did not compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics, citing "serious health reasons."

She was a sports analyst for swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on CBC, as well as the 2020 Summer Paralympics, broadcast on CBC and AMI-tv. She also co-hosted with Scott Russell for the 2022 Winter Paralympics and the 2024 Summer Paralympics on the same channels.

Sports career

Mortimer began swimming at age two; At age nine, she began swimming competitively.

She is classified SM10, the least-disabled paraswimming classification. SM10 is open to those with "very minimal weakness affecting the legs; Swimmers with restriction of hip joint movement; Swimmers with both feet deformed; Swimmers with one leg amputated below the knee; Swimmers missing one hand. This is the class with the most physical ability".

Paraswimming for Canada A serious injury at a competitive trampolining event shattered most of the bones in Mortimer's feet; she was nationally ranked in the sport. Mortimer wears an elastic band which she snaps when aware of a negative thought; "incredibly hard on myself", it helps her realize the frequency of her "down" thinking and changes her mental perspective.

At the April 2012 Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Swimming Trials in Montreal, Mortimer aimed to lower her world record in the 50-metre freestyle from 28.30 seconds to about 28.27; she finished in 28.17 seconds. Between the Trials and the Paralympics, she won the 100-metre backstroke in July at the Canada Cup; this result surprised Mortimer, who had a "rough time" with her feet the previous month. That month, she also won the women's 100-metre S10 at the Speedo Paraswimming CAN-AM in Winnipeg.

London Paralympics

Mortimer qualified for six women's SM10 events at the 2012 London Paralympics—the 200-metre individual medley, 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 34pts, 4 × 100 m medley relay, 50- and 100-metre freestyle and 100-metre backstroke—and expectations for her were high. For a half-hour before the competition, Mortimer was "bawling her eyes out";

In the 100-metre freestyle (her final solo event) Mortimer finished third, 0.69 second behind Mortimer's bronze was Canada's only medal on day nine of the competition. With Katarina Roxon, Morgan Bird and Brianna Nelson in the medley relay, Mortimer's team finished seventh and last. Her times of 32.35 for the 50-metre and 1:06.37 for the 100-metre were the fastest for her legs of the events. At the 2012 Olympics, Mortimer's four medals were the most for any Canadian athlete or para-athlete.

After London Following Mortimer's last individual event at London she said that although she intended to try for the 2013 World Aquatics Championships, the 2015 Parapan American Games, and the 2016 Paralympics, For the event, Paralympic athletes were given rooms at a hotel on the outskirts of Toronto while Olympic athletes were housed downtown and received gifts; at a dinner, the Paralympians were relegated to a different dining room. A Canadian Paralympic Committee spokesperson told The Spectator that the committee scrambled during the Paralympics to have their athletes included, and with their limited funding they could not afford the perks received by the Olympic athletes. She received honorariums for these appearances, and hoped to earn $3,000 in speaking fees in 2012. assisted with the post-position draw at the Pattison Canadian International Championship Stakes, and has appeared in publicity photo shoots.

Competitive-swimwear manufacturer Arena sponsors Mortimer. In November 2012, she went public about her and her uncle's difficulty in finding sponsorship since the 2010 Worlds.

Paraswimming for the Netherlands In 2013, Mortimer applied to switch to the Netherlands national team; since her mother is from that country, she has dual citizenship. In June 2014, the Hamilton Spectator reported the change. Although day-to-day funding in the Netherlands is similar to that in Canada, the former offers prize money; in the 2012 Paralympics, Mortimer would have won $60,000 for her gold medals alone. In the S10 100-metre backstroke, she broke the European record in the morning's heats and again in the final. Although she won a gold medal, she told the IPC website: "I wanted a world record. I'm not satisfied, I'm not super happy. That wasn't the perfect race. But this was a gauge to see where I am at."

Awards The Big Splash (from Swimming Canada) 2011: Female Para-Swimmer of the Year; her father was the Para-Female Coach of the Year 2012: TAS Para-Swimming Female Swimmer of the Year

Ontario Sport Award (from Sport Alliance Ontario) 2011: Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year 2012: Female Athlete with a Disability of the Year; her coach, Reg Chappell, was Male Coach of the Year.

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)

Mortimer, Melissa Tancredi and Cory Conacher were nominated for the 2013 Golden Horseshoe Athlete of the Year for residents of Hamilton or Burlington. Tancredi won. Columnist Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star listed Mortimer as a contender for the 2012 Lou Marsh Trophy (won by Christine Sinclair).

Arts and broadcasting career

In 2012, Mortimer illustrated The Night I Met the Boogie Man, written by her twin sister Julia, and created murals. Her first solo art exhibition was at the Station Coffee House and Gallery in 2015. In 2020, she was a cast member of Drury Lane Theatrical Productions' Little Shop of Horrors.

She was a nominee at the 2019 City of Hamilton Arts Awards, for the Emerging Media Arts Award.

Mortimer worked as a "princess performer" for entertainment company Forever Fairest.

In 2021, Mortimer was named as the pool-side reporter for aquatics competition at the Olympic Games, and studio analyst for the Paralympic Games broadcasts on CBC and AMI-tv. She returned to co-host in-studio segments with Scott Russell for the opening and closing ceremonies and daily highlights programs, during the 2022 Winter Paralympics. From 2024 to 2025, she was a host for Sportsnet.

Personal life

fontsize = 100% title_bg = title_fnt = title = I don’t think I look disabled. I hide it really well. Because I don’t show pain, I get a lot of criticism. I’m sorry. I’m stubborn as a mule. I’ve been through too much to show any sign of weakness. salign = right — Mortimer to the Canadian Press in 2012

She spent six months in a wheelchair and another 18 months on crutches. Mortimer's right foot has six screws and a plate, and her left foot has two screws; her ankles are continuously sore, and occasionally lock up.

She is a graduate of Westmount Secondary School. who won four medals (two gold, one silver and one bronze) at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, one year before she was born.

Footnotes